Gangdong-gu (Mayor Lee Jung-hun) will be installing and running the AI recyclable waste collector in order to improve the collect rate of rapidly increasing disposables.

In the middle of June, Gangdong-gu will install Nephron, a can and PET bottle collector, at Seongil Elementary School in Seongnae-dong (33, Seongnae-ro 15-gil, Gangdong-gu, Seoul) to run a test operation of the device for a year. The district aims to make the recycling of resources a part of residents’ lives by installing it in a place to which residents have easy access.

The automatic collector, Nephron, is a smart waste bin that applies AI and IoT technologies. It is a robot in the form of a recycling bin that automatically sorts cans and plastic bottles, crushes them, and sends points to the user’s mobile phone for the amount of collected items.

It is simple to use Nephron. Put clean cans or plastic bottles into the slot and Nephron will collect and sort them, and then give the user points: KRW 15 per can and KRW 10 per plastic bottle. When the user’s points reach over KRW 2,000, they can be transferred to the user’s bank account and used as cash.

Gangdong-gu will pilot the device for a year. After a year, Gangdong-gu will analyze the satisfaction rate among residents and the state of operation before extending its activity or installing additional ones.

Other than installing the automatic collector, Gangdong-gu is also operating various special policies surrounding recycling. The ice pack collection project, through which the collection baskets were installed in every apartment building, has been praised with a high participation rate by residents. The district is also striving to raise awareness on the recycling culture among the general public and to improve their actions through various projects, such as the promotion of using reusable shopping bags in the supermarket and the “Traveling Recycling School.”

Gangdong-gu’s Mayor Lee Jung-hun said, “Through the recyclable waste collector that will be piloted this year, residents can take action for both environmental conservation and personal benefits. We will take the lead to have residents practice recycling in an easier and more convenient fashion.”

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  Gangdong-gu’s Mayor Lee Jung-hun

  

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