From This Year, Clear PET Bottles Must Be Collected Separately

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Seo Dong-young] From this year, residents of apartment complexes must separately collect clear PET bottles that previously contained beverages and bottled water during recyclable waste separation.

As the Ministry of Environment's "Clear PET Bottle Separate Collection Pilot Project," which began last year, expands nationwide, Suwon City has distributed promotional materials and disposal guidance signs for separate collection of clear PET bottles to apartment complexes since December 25 of last year.

Accordingly, each household residing in apartments throughout Suwon City must separately collect clear PET bottles that previously contained beverages and bottled water in designated collection bins.

For separate collection, it is recommended to empty the contents of clear PET bottles, remove labels, compress to reduce volume, and close the lids. Even if lids are colored, they can be separated during the sorting and washing process for recycling purposes.

However, transparent containers other than PET bottles—such as single-use cups, trays that held strawberries and other fruits, egg cartons, and seaweed containers for bento boxes—are not subject to separate collection. These containers often have mixed materials or direct printing on them, so they must be collected separately to maintain recycling quality.

Clear PET bottles are high-quality recyclables that can be remade into PET bottles or converted into fibers or nonwoven fabrics. However, in Korea, similar items have been mixed in collection, resulting in limited recycling, and the country has relied on importing insufficient waste PET.

In response, the Ministry of Environment has implemented separate collection of clear PET bottles and is collaborating with domestic companies to produce products such as clothing, bags, and cosmetic bottles from the collected clear PET bottles. It is known that one regular t-shirt can be made from 10 500mL bottles or 5 2L clear PET bottles.

Suwon City plans to actively promote related content in apartment complexes over the next six months and strengthen guidance activities to ensure smooth separate collection of clear PET bottles.

A city official stated, "The separate collection of clear PET bottles, which began in apartment complexes, is scheduled to be implemented in single-family homes from the end of this year," and urged citizens to "actively participate in separately collecting clear PET bottles from general plastics so they can be recycled as high-quality resources."