"為食物垃圾買單" 韓國在行動
Unique 'Pay as You Trash' system helps South Korea cut food waste
In a bid to control the nation's growing problem with food wastage, the South Korean government has started a unique initiative – "Pay as You Trash". Residents are required to separate their food waste from the rest of their trash and dump it separately in a centralised bin. And in order to access the bin, they actually need to pay by the kilo!
為控制國內不斷加重的食物浪費問題,韓國政府推出了一項特別舉措——"為食物垃圾買單".民眾需要單獨歸類食物垃圾并傾倒在集中垃圾箱里.但要想打開垃圾箱,他們得按重量交費！
As of now, the South Korean government has three methods in place to charge citizens for the food thrown away. One is through an RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) card – when users tap this card – embedded with their personal tag – over a specially designed food waste bin, the lid will open, allowing them to dump their waste. This waste is automatically weighed and recorded in the user's account. The user needs to settle this bill on a monthly basis. Each RFID bin costs 1.7 million won ($1,500) and can cater to 60 households.
截至目前,韓國政府已推出三種垃圾收費方式.第一種,通過無線射頻識別（RFID）卡繳費——當使用者將載有個人信息的識別卡置于專用食物垃圾箱上方時,箱蓋會感應開啟,此時使用者可將垃圾投入箱中.用戶倒入的垃圾將被自動稱量并記錄在賬號中,并按月結清費用.每個RFID垃圾箱價值170萬韓元（約合1500美元）,可供60戶家庭使用.
The second billing method is through pre-paid garbage bags. These specially designed bags are priced based on volume. For instance, in Seoul, a 10-liter garbage bag costs around 190 won (less than $1). There's also a bar code management system in place, in which residents deposit food waste directly into composting bins and pay for it by purchasing bar code stickers attached to the bin.
第二種,通過預付費垃圾袋繳費.這種特別設計的垃圾袋按容量計價.如在首爾,一個容量10公升的垃圾袋要價約190韓元（不到1美元）.最后一種方式是條形碼管理系統.民眾可將食物垃圾直接倒入未分類垃圾箱中,再掃碼購買垃圾箱上附著的條形碼貼紙即可.
Nearly every residential complex in the nation is equipped one of these three payment systems. Even before the pay-by-weight system was introduced, South Koreans were still being charged for food waste – the cost was simply divided equally among the tenants of each apartment block. The new system is not only fair, but is also designed to make consumers really feel the pinch of excessive waste. The more food they toss out, the more they end up paying.
在韓國,幾乎每個居民區都配備了以上三種方式之一的支付系統.其實在引入按重計費系統之前,韓國就已經開始對食物殘渣進行收費——費用只是單純平攤在每個小區的用戶上.新系統不僅強調公平,還使消費者真正意識到過度浪費的不良影響.食物浪費得越多,費用繳納得越多.
And it's working – residents like Seoul housewife Ms. Kwan are now adopting innovative methods to avoid food waste. She makes sure to strain all the liquid out of leftover food before throwing it away. She also separates fresh produce and other food items into smaller portions so that only the required amount of ingredients are used up per meal. While prepping vegetables, she tries to make use of as much as the edible parts as possible, in an effort to minimize waste.
這項舉措正在奏效——現在,像家住首爾的家庭主婦關女士等居民都采取了創新方法防止食物浪費.在將食物殘渣扔進垃圾袋前,關女士一定會將其中的水分瀝干,她還會將食材分成若干小份,確保每餐只吃需要的份量并做到光盤.此外,在準備蔬菜時,關女士會盡可能留下可食用的部分,這樣也減少了浪費.
