Trash Talk Asia: Update from Seoul (days 4-5)

I usually carry my backpack and camera gear everywhere, so it hasn't been too difficult to carry all this trash with me. It's an interesting experience after lunch, for example, when I have to put my napkin and an empty bottle in my backpack. I've gotten a few funny looks. And my coworkers keep trying to hand off their trash to me. Not funny, guys!

One thing that's surprising is how many items are recyclable. Literally nearly every package or container I've come across has the international symbol on it. A side note...where a recycling bin wasn't readily available, I carried my recyclables back to the apartment to collect them...to dispose of on my last day in Seoul. Below is a day 5 photo of everything to date (note the left half of the table contains items I will recycle):

In South Korea there are at least 7 different types of recyclables. Here's an image of the symbols:

[Source of those symbols]

A client helped me translate them. Thanks Monica! The translation is as follows:
1 (PETE) : 재활용 가능, 음료수 병, 생수 병, 간장병, 식용유 병
recyclable, beverage bottle, water bottle, soy sause bottle, oil bottle

2 (HDPE) : 재활용 가능, 세제류 용기, 샴푸 통
recyclable, detergent container, shampoo container

3 (V) : 재활용 불가능, 대부분 공업용으로 가정용 배출품 거의 없음
disposable, mostly industrial things

4 (LDPE) : 재활용 가능, 우유병, 막걸리 병
recyclable, milk bottle, Makgeolli (this is a korean drink) bottle

5 (PP) : 재활용 가능, 상자류(맥주, 콜라, 소주 등)
recyclable, paper, boxes (beer, coke, So-ju)

6 (PS) : 재활용 가능, 사와병, 요쿠르트 병
recyclable, yogurt bottle

7 (Other) : 재활용 불가능, 대용량 물통, 게임기
disposable, mass water bottle, game device

Remember how I mentioned I couldn't find a trash can? Well, I'm not the only one. What I'm calling "random public trash accumulation" is problem here in Seoul. AKA littering. I haven't been here long enough to know how bad of a problem this is. It happens pretty unsurprisingly: one person uses a bench or some other surface to discard their trash (recyclable or not), and slowly but surely others continue. I'm not sure what the cultural stigma of littering is here, but I know this wouldn't fly in many American cities. Then again, we have public trash cans...Photo of this below (more on flickr):

Traveling all the time can be very misleading when it comes to trash, namely because we have maid service cleaning up after us on a daily basis. The environment of a hotel or apartment on the road has a sense of artificiality, especially when it comes to cleanliness. Wednesday morning I ran out of shampoo, only it was in one of those tiny travel bottles. I always carry several of those single serving shampoo and conditioner containers wherever I go (and I usually snatch the ones provided!)...So as it happened I never noticed whether they were recyclable or not. The little bottles definitely do not have any symbols that denote recycling, so I'm carrying them with me while I try to find out what I can do with them. Imagine the possibilities of a system, scaled worldwide, where those little containers are re-used rather than discarded.

Next up, carrying trash through customs from South Korea to China. The amount of trash I'm actually trying to carry through customs is relatively little. I'm not sure what the laws are, but will try to find out before I leave. We'll see what happens...!

-Brandon Edwards