Uijeongbu City (Mayor Kim Dong-geun) will install 30 ‘AI unmanned transparent PET bottle recycling machines’ that will allow citizens to practice recycling and receive cash in return.
This unmanned recycling machine installation will be promoted with a total project cost of 1.3 billion won as it was finally selected for the Korea Environment Corporation (a subsidiary of the Ministry of Environment)’s mutual cooperation demonstration program contest held in June.
The installation areas are 30 in total, including 10 community centers, 9 parks, 6 locations near bus stops, and 5 other locations such as sports complexes, and were selected considering factors such as densely populated areas and floating population.
The installation work is scheduled to be completed by this month and full-scale operation will begin in October.
An unmanned return machine is a machine that allows you to get cash back by removing the vinyl label from a transparent PET bottle and inserting it. The return machine is in the form of a vending machine. After entering the registered mobile phone number on the screen (display) of the machine, you insert the PET bottles one by one and cash points are accumulated.
If you install the smartphone app ‘Super Bean’, you can find the installation location on the map and check the availability in advance to minimize unnecessary steps.
In particular, to provide economic benefits to participating citizens, 10 points are accumulated for each transparent PET bottle, and when 2,000 points or more are accumulated, they can be refunded in cash through a smartphone app.
The unmanned recycling machine eliminates the need for garbage bags (30 million won) and collection staff (2 people) that are purchased at existing community centers to compensate residents for recycling, thereby preventing unnecessary waste of budget and administrative resources.
As a result of analyzing the usage of the two unmanned recycling machines installed this year (January to August), the total number of transparent PET bottles collected was 233,000, the total amount converted to cash was 2.33 million won, and the cumulative number of users was 2,153. If 30 more machines are installed, the annual collection volume is expected to reach 5.8 million, and 60 million won in cash will be refunded to citizens.
Han In-ho, head of the Resource Recycling Division, said, “This project will provide an opportunity to provide cutting-edge (smart) services in line with the 4th industrial revolution, and through thorough recycling separation, it will raise awareness of recycling and create a consensus among citizens that ‘waste can also be money.’ We will continue to pursue various projects with citizens to create a cutting-edge (smart) city, Uijeongbu.”
Economy Queen Reporter Hongmi Kim / Photo Uijeongbu City
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2024-09-19 12:01:29