Chicken bones and eggshells go in the official waste bag

Right now

1. 1Find the rules for where you live first. On the household waste sorting site Bunriui Jeongseok (wasteguide.or.kr), open the neighborhood disposal page and choose your province and your city or district. It links to that area's disposal website, drop-off locations and ordinance.
2. 2Sort gift set packaging before you throw it out. Take shipping labels and tape off delivery boxes and styrofoam boxes and put them out as paper and styrofoam. Fruit netting, wrapping cloths and insulated cooler bags go in the official waste bag.
3. 3If you live in an apartment complex, check whether the recycling area now has a separate bin or bag for paper cartons. Complexes that are legally required to have professional management, including those with 300 or more households, started collecting cartons separately on a voluntary basis on 1 October, and it is set to become mandatory on 1 January 2027.

What to have ready

• Official waste bag: Use the bag for your district. Seoul household bags come in sizes from 1 to 100 liters, and the district head sets the price.
• Food waste bag or bin: Buildings differ. Some use dedicated bags and some use RFID collection machines.
• Scissors: For cutting open water-filled ice packs. Gel ice packs are not cut.
• Newspaper or tissues: For soaking up leftover cooking oil before it goes in the official waste bag.

Phrases you can copy and paste

Step by step

1. 1

   You pay for trash by the bag

   Household trash in Korea runs on a volume-based fee system. The Seoul Metropolitan Government describes it as a system that makes people pay for as much as they throw away, so that they cut their own waste and separate as many recyclables as they can. After a pilot in 93 cities, counties and districts including Seoul from April 1994, it went nationwide in 1995. The price of a bag covers making and selling it plus collecting, transporting and treating the waste, and the district head sets the price to suit local conditions. Seoul household bags come in ten sizes from 1 to 100 liters. Anything that cannot be recycled, and scraps that do not count as food waste, go in this bag.

2. 2

   What stays out of the food waste bin

   Food waste is where people get stuck. The Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment's holiday sorting guide says to drain leftover food as much as possible and put it in a food waste bag or a dedicated bin, RFID bins included. Animal bones, clam and other shells, nut shells, eggshells and the pits of stone fruit such as peaches go in the official waste bag instead. The standard Seoul recommended to all 25 of its districts in April 2020 has a longer list. Roots of chives, green onions and water celery, pepper seeds, skins of onions, garlic, ginger and corn, pepper and corn stalks, rice hulls, fish bones, crab and other crustacean shells, pufferfish innards, used tea leaves such as green tea, and herbal medicine dregs are not food waste either. Seoul says these break the machines and block recycling when they are mixed in. Rinse salty foods such as kimchi, doenjang and gochujang in water first, and chop large vegetables such as radishes, cabbages and pumpkins into small pieces.

3. 3

   Empty and rinse recyclables, then sort them by material

   Recyclables go out separately by material. The waste classification chart on Bunriui Jeongseok lists paper, paper cartons, glass bottles, metal cans, clear PET bottles, plastic containers, plastic film, and foamed plastics such as styrofoam as separate categories. The ministry's rules are short. Empty plastic containers and plastic film packaging and rinse them with water before putting them out. Household plastic wrap for food goes out as plastic film once it is clean, but PVC wrap on delivery food goes in the official waste bag. Empty gas canisters such as butane cans completely by pressing the nozzle in a well-ventilated spot, then put them out with cans and sort the cap by its material. Rinse empty cooking oil bottles and put them out as plastic.

4. 4

   Milk and soy milk cartons stay out of the waste paper bin

   Milk and soy milk cartons are made of paper, but they do not go out with newspapers and boxes. On the Bunriui Jeongseok classification chart, paper cartons are a separate category from paper, split again into regular cartons and aseptic cartons. In the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment's guide, milk cartons are regular cartons, while juice, soy milk and bottled water cartons are aseptic cartons. Empty a regular carton, rinse it and flatten it before putting it out. Cut an aseptic carton open first, then empty it, rinse it and flatten it. Both go in a dedicated carton bin or bag, not the waste paper bin. The ministry says a large share of cartons ends up in official waste bags or mixed with ordinary waste paper, and is screened out and burned as residue during recycling. So from 1 October 2026, separate carton collection started on a voluntary basis in apartment complexes across the country that are legally required to have professional management, including those with 300 or more households. The ministry plans to revise its guideline so that it becomes mandatory from 1 January 2027. If you live in a smaller building outside this group, follow your area's disposal rules.

5. 5

   Gift packaging often looks recyclable but belongs in the bag

   Opening a holiday gift set produces a pile of packaging at once. In the ministry's Chuseok guide, these go to recycling. Delivery boxes go out as paper once shipping labels and tape are off and the box is flattened, and paper cushioning goes out as paper, gathered so it does not blow away. Styrofoam boxes go out as styrofoam once the labels and tape are removed, and PSP trays that hold fruit go out as styrofoam once they are clean. Onion nets go out as plastic film, gathered so they do not blow away. On an egg tray, the lid is plastic, the base is paper, and any tying string goes in the official waste bag. Fruit netting, foam pads and foam caps, non-woven fruit wrapping, rattan baskets, wrapping cloths, aluminum foil and insulated cooler bags, on the other hand, all go in the official waste bag. Large baskets go out separately as bulky waste.

6. 6

   Ice packs and cooking oil have their own rules

   Put ice packs in a dedicated collection box if there is one. If there is not, check what is inside. Cut water-filled ice packs open with scissors, pour the water down the drain and put the plastic casing out as plastic film. Gel ice packs go in the official waste bag as they are, without cutting. Pour leftover cooking oil into a used cooking oil collection box, or soak it up with newspaper or tissues and put it in the official waste bag.

7. 7

   Breaking the rules brings a fine that rises each time

   Article 15 of the Wastes Control Act requires anyone putting out household waste to keep it separated by type, nature and condition as the local ordinance sets out. Breaking this brings a fine. Under the enforcement decree criteria summarized on Bunriui Jeongseok, waste put out in connection with daily living in a detached house, row house or apartment costs 100,000 won for a first violation, 200,000 won for a second and 300,000 won from the third on. Disposal methods can differ by area, so check them again when you move to a new neighborhood.

8. 8

   Look up anything unfamiliar in the item dictionary

   Bunriui Jeongseok has an item dictionary where you can look up how to dispose of something by its name, plus maps of drop-off locations and of shops that sell official waste bags. Choose your province and your city or district on the neighborhood disposal page, and it links to that area's household waste website, drop-off locations, sorting ordinance and leaflets. The ministry's holiday guide also notes that methods can differ by city, county and district and asks people to check the details with their local government. Fluorescent lamps, batteries and waste medicines each have their own category on the classification chart.

The Korean words

종량제 봉투jongnyangje bongtu, official waste bag

The bag you pay for by volume. Use the one your district sets.

분리배출bulli baechul, sorting waste for collection

The word you see most on notices and apartment notice boards.

음식물 쓰레기eumsingmul sseuregi, food waste

Goes in a dedicated bag or bin. Bones and shells stay out.

일반쓰레기ilban sseuregi, general waste

Neither recyclable nor food waste. It goes in the official waste bag.

비닐류binillyu, plastic film

Plastic packaging and plastic bags, emptied and rinsed.

종이팩jong-i paek, paper carton

Milk and juice cartons. They go out separately from newspapers and boxes.

멸균팩myeolgyun paek, aseptic carton

Juice, soy milk and bottled water cartons. Cut, empty and rinse them before putting them out.

스티로폼seutiropom, styrofoam

Take off labels and tape before putting it out.

대형폐기물daehyeong pyegimul, bulky waste

Large items put out separately instead of in a bag.

과태료gwataeryo, administrative fine

100,000 won for a first household violation.

Easy to miss

• ·Putting chicken bones, clam shells or eggshells in food waste. Animal bones and shells go in the official waste bag.
• ·Putting salty kimchi or doenjang out as food waste without rinsing it first.
• ·Leaving fruit netting, wrapping cloths or cooler bags next to the recyclables. All of them go in the official waste bag.
• ·Putting plastic film packaging out without rinsing it. Empty it and rinse it with water.
• ·Putting milk or soy milk cartons in the waste paper bin with newspapers and boxes. Cartons go in their own bin or bag.
• ·Cutting open a gel ice pack and pouring it down the drain. Only water-filled ice packs are cut open.
• ·Putting out a butane can with gas still in it. Empty it completely in a well-ventilated spot first.

You can skip this if

• Waste from business activity, such as a shop or an office, has different fine criteria. On the Bunriui Jeongseok chart, a first violation starts at 200,000 or 500,000 won.
• If you live outside Seoul, the list of items that are not food waste may differ a little. The long list in this guide is the standard Seoul recommended to its 25 districts.
• This guide does not cover large items such as furniture or appliances. Look up bulky waste separately on your area's disposal website.

Where this comes from

• Less trash and no inconvenience for a clean Chuseok, with the attached guide to sorting holiday household waste, 13 September 2026, Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment press release
• Paper carton recycling agreement, with separate carton collection in apartment complexes starting voluntarily in October 2026 and in full from 1 January 2027, 21 September 2026, Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment press release
• Card news on separate paper carton collection, 7 October 2026, Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment on Korea.kr
• Fine criteria under the Enforcement Decree of the Wastes Control Act, Bunriui Jeongseok household waste sorting site
• Waste classification chart, Bunriui Jeongseok household waste sorting site
• Disposal rules for your neighborhood, Bunriui Jeongseok household waste sorting site
• Volume-based waste fee system, Seoul Metropolitan Government waste policy
• Seoul distributes food waste disposal standard in ten languages for foreign residents, Seoul Metropolitan Government
• Wastes Control Act (Korea Law Information Center)