Environmental Education in South Korea
| Yun Jeong-hyun’s - 16 Nov 2025

I will introduce how to separate and collect garbage among environmental education in South Korea. In South Korea, garbage is separated by type in separate collection boxes. A recycling box is made so that things such as plastic, glass, cans, paper, etc. can be separated.
  Separate collection is carried out everywhere in South Korea. Separate collection is carried out everywhere in Korea, including businesses, households, and schools.
 Schools also separate garbage. Recycling everything recyclable, such as bottles, cans, and paper, is collected separately.
 Containers for liquids, such as milk cartons and beverage bottles, should be thoroughly washed before disposal. Also, remove the plastic label from the bottle and throw it in the trash. Separate garbage by type and dispose of it.
  When throwing away appliances or furniture in the house, call the local government. The government collects home appliances and then recycles them. Those who throw away home appliances have to pay a certain amount of money to local governments.
  As such, South Korea’s garbage collection encourages people to throw away small amounts of garbage by charging garbage fees.
 The government is widely promoting awareness of environmental protection to the public and the necessity of separate collection of waste. It promotes waste collection and improves the environment at the same time.
 Food waste must be placed in a place where only food waste is collected. This is because food waste can be used to make compost, feed, and energy. In South Korea, food waste can only be thrown away by paying for it. In addition, garbage bags containing food waste must be purchased by the people themselves.
  Purchasing garbage bags by the people themselves serves to force the people to reduce food waste to some extent. Regular waste and food waste must be purchased in a dedicated garbage bag to be thrown away in the collection box. In a nutshell, the more trash thrown out in South Korea, the more expensive it will be. Because the people have to pay the government to dispose of the garbage, the citizens are encouraged to minimize the generation of waste.
  Since the people have to pay the government for disposing of garbage, the citizens are encouraged to minimize the generation of waste.
It is convenient for people to throw away the garbage by collecting it at once. It is convenient if the waste is incinerated and disposed of. However, it is all of us who have to take care of the pollution, and our children will have to deal with it later. In the end, it will affect all of us, so we need to pay attention to garbage collection. 
The reason why South Koreans are so good at separating garbage is based on outstanding civic awareness. The outstanding civic consciousness of South Koreans was not achieved overnight, but by education.
  There is a Korean proverb that says, “The habit of three years old goes all the way to eighty.” So, even kindergartens before entering elementary school provide separate garbage collection education. From kindergarten, education is taught to cut into the body how to separate and collect waste. Of course, children in kindergarten learn from their parents at home by watching them collect waste separately.
  In Korean textbooks, there is a content called environment, so students learn about nature conservation at school. And there are environmental protection activities in class. These environmental protection activities are taught by the Ministry of Education.
Clean the environment around the school during environmental protection activities. South Korea is teaching environmental protection through education. Because of this repeated education, garbage is collected separately and recycling resources is being made. These days, many foreigners are coming to South Korea.   They say they are surprised to see a clean cityscape. Of course, there are people who throw away trash in South Korea as well. Everywhere is clean because fewer people throw away trash. And food waste recycling is the best in the world. All these results were made through education.
  As a teacher, I also educate students to conserve resources so as not to throw out garbage, and the school also separates collection. Good habits are completed by constant repetition and effort.
  Education systems in all countries cannot be perfect. If there is a system that other countries’ educational systems should follow, you should choose your strengths. I think South Korea’s environmental education method is a good example.

 



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