Songpa-gu, Seoul won first place in the nation in food waste management performance evaluation

Songpa-gu, Seoul (Chief Seo Kang-seok) announced on the 6th that it was ranked first in the country in the '2026 Food Waste Management Local Government Performance Evaluation' at the '18th Resource Circulation Day' event hosted by the Ministry of Environment on the 4th and received the grand prize, the Prime Minister's Award.

Previously, Songpa-gu received the award for the third time, following the grand prize in 2023 and the Minister of Environment's commendation in 2024.

After introducing the volume-based waste fee system in 2013, the district implemented a reduction policy and reduced food waste by about 37,000 tons compared to 2012 emissions. When converted to the waste disposal budget, it exceeds 69.1 billion won.

To this end, the district is operating a total of 3,488 'electronic tag (RFID) food waste metering devices', covering 100% of apartment complexes and 30% of general housing. A system was introduced that requires the installation of RFID food waste metering devices from the approval stage of new housing construction.

In addition, in line with the growing trend of one- to two-person households, waste disposal policies were implemented, such as introducing 0.6 liter (liter) volume-based food waste bags for the first time in the country and supporting the purchase of 250 small household weight reducers.

In addition, a 'reduction competition' was held in which 115 apartment complexes in the area participated, and the result of voluntarily reducing waste by 7.03% was achieved.

Songpa-gu Mayor Seo Kang-seok said, “This award is a valuable result of the efforts of residents who participated in their daily lives to reduce food waste.” He added, “We will continue to discover and promote field-oriented resource circulation policies that are closely related to residents’ lives to create Songpa, a sustainable low-carbon, eco-friendly city.”