South Korea recycles 98% of its food waste. What can it teach the world?
South Korea recycles 98% of its food waste. What can it teach the world?
Almost all leftovers from homes and restaurants are turned into compost, animal feed and even energy. But its model isn’t easy to replicate.
When South Korea started tackling this problem 20 years ago, it threw away 98 percent of its food waste. Today, 98 percent of food waste is turned into feed, compost or energy, according to the South Korean Ministry of Environment. It achieved this by banning food scraps from landfills and mandating that all residents separate their food waste from their trash and recycling — and to pay for the service through fees and fines.
South Korea is one of the few countries with a nationwide system for food-waste management. While France made composting food mandatory this year — and some cities like New York have imposed similar rules — few places match up with South Korea.
Our small rural county in Canada has been on required composting of food scraps with the exception of meats and fats for over 20 years. Not driven by food waste but savings in collection and disposal unfortunately. This is amazing for an entire country to be considering food waste as big a problem as it is.