New York City is adopting a food waste management system similar to the one established in South Korea over the past 30 years.
The BBC recently reported on Seoul's food waste management system, noting that South Korea's food waste recycling rate has increased from 2.6% in 1996 to approximately 97% in 2023.
South Korea implemented a pay-as-you-throw system in 1995 and made food waste separation mandatory in 1997. In 2005, the country banned the landfill disposal of food waste, and in 2010, it introduced RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) smart bins. By 2013, the country also prohibited the ocean dumping of food waste leachate.
The RFID food waste disposal system charges residents based on the amount of waste they produce, allowing them to monitor their food waste output directly. According to the BBC, as of 2025, there are 151,934 smart bins installed in South Korea, serving over 8.61 million households.
Separated food waste is also utilized for energy production. The Daejeon Bioenergy Center recycles 70-75% of the food waste it receives into energy, generating enough power for about 6,000 households daily. There are over 340 similar facilities across South Korea.
The BBC explained that while food waste in landfills generates methane, a potent greenhouse gas, bioenergy facilities can capture it for fuel.
New York City is using South Korea as a model to expand its food waste separation program. Starting in October 2024, residents will be required to separate their food waste, affecting approximately 3.4 million households. This initiative represents the largest organic waste recovery program in the United States.
However, resident participation remains a challenge. The New York City Department of Sanitation recently engaged in over 60,000 conversations with residents across five boroughs and issued more than 63,000 violation notices to households that failed to comply with the separation regulations since the program's implementation.
New York City has also installed over 400 smart composting bins. However, some residents have raised concerns about rodents congregating around these bins.
According to the BBC, New York City processed about 140,000 tons of residential organic waste in 2025, which accounted for only about 9% of the annual generation of 1.5 million tons.
Steven Cohen, director of the Sustainability Management Program at Columbia University, told the BBC, "South Korea's RFID bins can hold each resident accountable for their organic waste."
Additionally, Joom-Sol Joo, a senior researcher at the Korea Environment Institute, stated, "South Korea has made significant progress in food waste recycling, but new technologies and policies are at a turning point to further advance this progress," according to the BBC.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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