South Korea Mandates Free Collection of Old Appliances with New Purchases

South Korea is implementing a new regulation requiring retailers to provide free collection of old large appliances when consumers purchase new ones. This measure, set to take effect with the legislative notice period starting August 21 and ending October 1, aims to simplify the disposal process for consumers.

The Ministry of Environment, Climate, and Energy specified 11 types of large appliances that fall under this mandatory collection. These include refrigerators, washing machines, air conditioners, treadmills, electric massagers, televisions, copiers, dishwashers, water purifiers, vending machines, and clothes dryers or managers. The ministry expects this to significantly ease the burden of discarding old appliances for the public.

In addition to appliance collection, the government is strengthening regulations for the recycling and safe management of used batteries. Future resource collection centers will now handle components like electric vehicle (EV) and hybrid vehicle motors, wind turbine nacelles and blades, and energy storage systems (ESS). The use of recycled materials from lithium-ion and EV batteries will be restricted to domestic manufacturing, and nickel content requirements will increase from 10% to over 13%. Safety measures for transporting and storing batteries from hybrid, hydrogen, and construction vehicles, as well as ESS, will also be expanded, with specific protocols for damaged batteries.