Ministry of Climate, Environment and Energy to accept submissions starting Thursday through the 'National Idea Box' platform
South Korea's Ministry of Climate, Environment and Energy announced Wednesday that it will begin accepting submissions for a public idea contest on reducing unnecessary plastic and improving recycling barriers, starting Thursday through the government's online platform "National Idea Box."
The contest is divided into two categories: an "unnecessary plastics" track, which seeks ideas for eliminating excess plastic in products or replacing it with alternative materials such as paper or wood, and a "recycling barriers" track, which focuses on improving factors that make waste separation and recycling difficult.
Submissions will be accepted on a rolling basis starting Thursday. The ministry plans to select nine outstanding ideas every six months for recognition and awards.
A panel of experts from various fields will review submitted ideas. Those selected will go through consultations with industry before being incorporated into policy through systems such as the packaging material quality and structure evaluation regime and the circular usability assessment regime.
"A circular economy is ultimately a process in which products that have passed through the hands of each and every citizen are reborn as valuable resources and returned to daily life," said Kim Go-eung, director general of the ministry's Resource Circulation Bureau. "If citizens share the fresh ideas they have had in their everyday lives rather than letting them slip by, we will actively reflect them in policy."
thlee@heraldcorp.com
