Garbage and Trash

In Korea, people are very conscious about recycling. Almost everywhere you see a trash can, there are 2 or 3 different types. There’s one for recyclable cans and bottles, and one for regular trash. In fast food restaurants there are separate trash cans for food trash, regular trash and one for recyclable paper cups as well.

The same type of separating trash also applies when you’re throwing out household trash. You have to buy a special type of garbage bags manufactured by the government. I guess this sort of acts as a trash tax. Strangely enough, garbage disposal in the sink that we take for granted in the U.S. is not available in Korea and they are illegal. Someone told me that in Korea, not every city area has the capability to process food waste in the sewer treatment plants. Therefore, the government doesn’t want you to stuff food down your drain.

So, if there’s no garbage disposal in the sink, then how do you get rid of food trash? You have to separate normal trash and food trash. Normal trash gets put into special government stamped trash bags and is thrown away. In Kangnam, food trash is deposited separately into food trash receptacles in your trash dump area. In other areas, you have to buy special food trash bags and dispose of them using the food trash bags.

Back in the U.S., it was a simple matter of stuffing food trash down the sink and turning on the garbage disposal. Now, in Korea, I have to separate the food trash and carry them out to the trash dump area. It is not a task that I look forward to. It just gives me more reasons not to cook and it makes me eat out all the time.