Highway trash spikes during Chuseok

A day before the start of the Chuseok holiday, the southbound line of the Gyeongbu Expressway at Jamwon IC in Seocho-gu, Seoul is congested with vehicles on Friday. (Yonhap)

Ahead of the massive exodus expected ahead of Chuseok, one of the biggest traditional holidays in South Korea, the amount of trash dumped on highways per day during the autumn holiday is found to be more than twice the average per day during the rest of the year, new research showed.

According to data released by Democratic Party Rep. Min Hong-chul on Friday obtained from the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport, a total of 47,737 metric tons of garbage was collected from private and public highways over the past five years from 2019 to 2023 -- a daily average of 26 tons.

Highway litter was especially high during the Chuseok holidays. On average, about 54.8 tons of trash per day was dumped on highways during the holiday, more than double the average for the rest of the year.

The Lunar New Year holiday, one of the two biggest holidays in Korea, also saw an increase in trash. The average amount of trash generated on Seollal holidays was 55.7 tons per day on average over the five-year period.

By year, 2019 saw 52.2 tons of litter per day, 48.9 tons in 2020, 65.9 tons in 2021, 47.2 tons in 2022, and 66.1 tons in 2023.

“We can no longer ignore the spike in the amount of garbage generated during the holidays,” said Min. "We need active measures from the government and local governments, as well as improved awareness among drivers."

By Choi Jeong-yoon(jychoi@heraldcorp.com)