Suwon to Change Pay-as-You-Throw Bag Design Starting January

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Jeong Jun-seong] Suwon announced on the 13th that it will introduce newly designed pay-as-you-throw bags with easier-to-understand designs starting January next year.

The new pay-as-you-throw bags (for incineration, food waste, reuse, and public use) first feature a significantly reduced amount of text printed on them. The current pay-as-you-throw bags in use contain densely packed information including garbage disposal methods, collection and pickup times, and fines for mixed disposal, leading to many opinions that the content is difficult to read.

Additionally, the new pay-as-you-throw bags use pictograms to simplify the design. Items that should not be placed in each type of bag are marked with pictograms so that anyone can easily understand them.

Incineration bags feature pictograms with diagonal lines through images of plastic bottles, glass bottles, cans, vinyl, dishes, and batteries, while food waste bags feature pictograms with diagonal lines through images of seashells, bones, eggshells, fruit seeds, vegetable peels, and tea bags.

Only disposal times and fine regulations are marked below the pictograms, minimizing text. The word "garbage" that appeared on existing bags has been removed to emphasize the fact that these are "separate collection bags."

Fine regulations are marked in three languages—English, Chinese, and Vietnamese—to help foreign residents understand more easily.

The development of the new design involved Suwon's Department of Sanitation and Resources, the Urban Design Team, and Professor Emeritus Yun Ho-seop of Kookmin University's College of Fine Arts, Department of Visual Design, who is known as Korea's first "green designer."

In September, a survey was conducted on design concepts with 300 people including the Environmental Management Corporation and citizens, and their opinions were reflected in the design.

The city plans to trial production and sales of pay-as-you-throw bags with the new design starting January next year, investigate citizens' responses, and then expand supply accordingly. Existing pay-as-you-throw bags can continue to be used until depleted.