Reusable containers were supplied throughout the festival grounds — including dining halls and food trucks — with about 580,000 units used in total.
Naju has rolled out a comprehensive reusable container system at the 2026 Naju Yeongsan River Festival, which drew 540,000 visitors, achieving measurable results in eco-friendly festival management with the participation of residents and tourists alike.
The festival ran from Oct. 7 to 11 at Yeongsan River Garden, where organizers established a reusable container system to cut single-use waste and promote resource recycling.
During the festival, the city supplied reusable containers to 19 dining halls, 20 food trucks, and other food and merchandise booths across the grounds, including at the Agriculture Festa.
Used containers were collected by a professional cleaning company, then washed, sterilized and disinfected before being redistributed — a cycle designed to minimize single-use item consumption.
About 580,000 reusable containers were used over the course of the festival, reducing waste by an estimated 5.8 tons and cutting greenhouse gas emissions by roughly 22.4 tons of CO₂.
Based on the standard that a 30-year-old pine tree absorbs about 10.1 kilograms of carbon dioxide per year, that figure is equivalent to the annual absorption of approximately 2,200 pine trees.
Across the roughly 500,000-square-meter festival grounds, the city also strengthened its collection system by expanding dedicated return bins and supply-and-return booths in key zones to make it easier for visitors to return containers.
The city also deployed civilian monitors to support container collection, manage return facilities and maintain cleanliness throughout the grounds.
Voluntary participation by residents and tourists further bolstered the eco-friendly operation.
After eating and drinking, visitors returned their containers to collection points set up around the grounds, joining the resource-recycling effort to reduce single-use waste.
Naju has also introduced a reusable container system at this year's Yeongsan-po Skate Ray and Hanwoo Festival, continuing to expand single-use waste reduction and reusable container use across local festivals.
The city plans to further embed reusable container use and collection systems at festivals and events, and to spread a culture of eco-friendly practice so residents can naturally take part in resource recycling in their daily lives.
"Festival grounds that draw large numbers of residents and tourists at once can generate significant amounts of single-use waste and refuse even over a short period, so switching to reusable containers is an important step toward waste reduction and carbon neutrality," Naju Mayor Yun Byeong-tae said.
"I am grateful to the residents and tourists who actively participated in using and returning the reusable containers," he added. "We will continue to build an eco-friendly festival culture that residents can take part in together, and work toward making Naju a sustainable resource-recycling city."
kkm9971@heraldcorp.com
