Rubbish in Seoul: bags, food waste and fines

In Australia you wheel the bin to the kerb on Tuesday night. In Seoul you buy the bag, sort the scraps and get a note on your door if you mess it up.

The short version

Seoul charges you per bag. General rubbish goes in official volume-rate bags sold by your district (gu) at convenience stores and supermarkets [1].
The bags are district-specific. Move from Mapo to Gangnam and your old bags may not be valid [2].
Food scraps are separate. They go in food waste bags or a shared bin that weighs them with an RFID card [1][3].
Recyclables go out free, sorted by type. Big items like a mattress or wardrobe need a paid sticker or a booked pickup [1][2].
Using the wrong bag or dumping rubbish can bring fines of up to 1 million won [4].

How Seoul's pay-as-you-throw system works

Korea introduced the volume-based waste fee system nationwide on 1 January 1995, after a pilot in three Seoul districts, including Songpa-gu and Seongbuk-gu [1]. The idea is simple: the more you throw out, the more you pay. You don't pay a separate rubbish charge. The cost is built into the price of the official bag.

That's the big shift from home. In Australia, rubbish collection comes bundled into your council rates or rent, and you can stuff the red-lid bin as full as you like. In Seoul, every bag of general waste costs you money, so sorting out recyclables and food scraps saves you cash.

Waste type	Where it goes	Do you pay?
General rubbish	Official white volume-rate bag from your district [1][2]	Yes, through the bag price
Food waste	Food waste bag, or a shared bin with an RFID card or chip [1][3]	Yes, by bag or by weight
Recyclables	Clear bags or separate bins, sorted by type [1][2]	No
Broken glass and ceramics	A special heavy sack for non-burnable waste [2]	Yes
Large items	Sticker or booked pickup through your district [1][2]	Yes, by item

Bag sizes and colours

General waste bags come in sizes from small to very large: 3, 5, 10, 20, 30, 50, 75 and 100 litres [1]. Most single people and couples live on 10- or 20-litre bags. You'll find them at convenience stores like GS25 and CU, supermarkets and some laundromats. Ask the counter for jongnyangje bongtu (volume-rate bag) and say the size.

Colours vary by district. In Seocho-gu, household bags are white, commercial bags orange and reusable carry bags purple, while food waste bags are sky blue [2]. Some large supermarkets sell reusable shopping bags that later double as official rubbish bags, at the same price as standard bags [1].

Prices are set by each district and change from time to time, so check the price on the shelf. The bags are cheap one by one, but they add up if you're not sorting properly.

Why your bags only work in one district

Each gu orders its own bags. Seocho-gu warns residents to use only bags designated for their area, because bags bought elsewhere aren't valid [2]. Some districts print QR codes and English on their bags now. Seodaemun-gu redesigned its bags in 2025 with pictograms, English and Chinese labels, and a QR code that links to disposal rules and sales locations [5]. When you move, use up or give away your old bags and buy new ones locally.

Food waste: the bit that trips everyone up

Food waste in Korea is collected separately and processed, much of it into feed, compost or energy. That's why the rules are stricter than an Australian green bin.

Bags, bins or RFID cards

How you pay depends on your building [1][3]:

Food waste bags. Common in villas, officetels and older buildings. You buy small bags, often 1 to 5 litres, and leave them in a lidded container outside.
RFID bins. Common in apartment complexes. You tap a card to open the lid, the bin weighs what you tip in, and the charge appears on your monthly maintenance bill.
Shared smart bins. Some complexes weigh the total and split the cost among residents.

Ask your landlord or building manager which system you're on when you move in. If it's an RFID bin, ask for the card.

What counts as food waste

The rough test: could an animal eat it? Seocho-gu's guidance says to drain liquid first and remove plastic, toothpicks, shells and bones before disposal [2]. In practice:

Food waste: fruit and vegetable scraps, leftover rice, noodles, meat and fish flesh, bread.
General rubbish instead: chicken and pork bones, shellfish shells, egg shells, hard fruit stones like peach pits, onion skins, tea bags and coffee grounds in many districts.

Rules differ slightly between districts, so check yours. Drain the scraps well. Wet food waste is heavier, which costs more on an RFID bin and smells worse in summer.

Recycling: sort it by type

Recyclables go out free of charge, but only if sorted [1]. Seocho-gu asks residents to separate paper, cans, bottles, scrap metal, styrofoam and plastic by type and put them in clear bags [2]. Apartments usually have a recycling area with labelled cages and a set collection day. Villas and smaller buildings put recycling in clear bags at the kerb.

Rinse it. Wash out food containers, cans and bottles. A greasy takeaway container is general rubbish, not recycling.
Strip it. Peel labels off clear plastic drink bottles and crush them. Many buildings collect clear PET bottles separately from coloured plastic.
Separate it. Keep paper, cardboard, cans, glass, plastic, vinyl and styrofoam apart. Flatten boxes and remove tape.
Clean styrofoam only. Delivery boxes with stickers or food stuck on them may be rejected.
Batteries and fluorescent lights. These go in separate collection boxes, often at community centres or apartment lobbies [1].

When to put it out

Seoul is strict on timing too. In Seocho-gu, rubbish goes in front of your home between 6 pm and 1 am, or 10 pm and 1 am for buildings on main roads [2]. General waste and recycling are collected on alternate days, either Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday or Monday, Wednesday and Friday depending on your area. Food waste is collected daily. Don't put anything out on Saturdays or the day before a public holiday [2]. Other districts run similar but not identical schedules, so ask your building manager.

Big items: stickers and booked pickups

A broken chair, a mattress or an old fridge can't just go on the footpath. You need a large waste sticker bought through your district, or you book a collection with a district-approved operator [1][2].

Apply online or in person. Most gu offices let you apply online and pay by card, or you can buy a sticker at your local community centre (jumin senteo).
Pay by item. The fee depends on the item and its size.
Label it. Write down or print the reference number, attach the sticker and leave the item where your district says.
Check for free options. Some districts collect large appliances free if you book ahead. Ask at your community centre.

When you leave Korea, sell or give away furniture through local secondhand apps and community groups first. It's cheaper and kinder than stickering a whole flat's worth.

Fines, and what Australians usually get wrong

Districts are tightening enforcement. Jongno-gu warns residents that using non-standard bags or mixing prohibited items can bring fines of up to 1 million won [4]. CCTV watches many problem corners, and building managers sometimes open bags to find the owner. Districts are also cracking down on counterfeit bags, with Gangseo-gu adding encrypted barcodes and serial numbers so residents can verify them [6].

The usual Aussie mistakes:

Plain supermarket bags for rubbish. Not allowed. It has to be the official district bag.
Bones in the food bin. They go in general rubbish.
Putting it out on Saturday. It sits there, and the neighbours notice.
Takeaway containers in recycling with sauce still in them. Rinse them, or bin them.
Bags from your old district after moving. Buy local bags.

There's help available. Jongno-gu started handing out picture-based recycling guides in English and Chinese at community centres from 26 October 2026 [4]. Your own district office will have rules online, and the Seoul Dasan Call Center on 120 can answer questions in English.

Not sure which bin your onion skins go in? Ask in Cooee South Korea, our Facebook group for Australians in South Korea. Someone has already argued about it with their building manager.

Rubbish in Seoul: volume-rate bags, food waste bins and how not to get fined