The Ice Pack Project
Recycle your ice packs!
What is the ice pack project?
The ice pack project is a passion project that aims to raise awareness on the growing issue of ice pack disposal. During the COVID-19 pandemic, deliveries in Korea grew substantially, and one of the corresponding effects is the growing usage of ice packs. These seemingly harmless ice packs are actually capable of causing appreciable environmental damages.
About US & KIS
Justin and Alex are KIS students who see the need for ice pack recycling. We want to raise public awareness of this issue and share how you can respond. We are not the only KIS students who care about our environment. In fact, the KIS school community works on many projects and participates in many events that help protect our environment and raise awareness of other environmental issues.
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Why should we recycle ice packs?
Environmental Reasons
Gel-containing ice packs get incinerated along with other trash. During this process, the microplastics inside these gels release harmful gases. Furthermore, when the gel-containing ice packs are not incinerated, the gel inside takes up to 500 years to decompose in landfills.
Economic Reasons
Since the start, of COVID-19, ice pack prices have been rising. As a result, ice pack purchases are becoming a financial burden for some small Korean merchants.
How to recycle different types of ice packs
Water-containing ice types do not contain gels. Simply pour the water into a sink and recycle the pastic cover of the ice pack with your household recycling.
Do not pour gel into a sink or dispose of gel-contaning ice packs with other trash. Instead, you can either reuse them or recycle them at an ice pack recycling station near you.
How to distinguish between the two types?
Typically, you can distinguish between water ice packs and gel-containing icepacks by feeling the consistency of the ice pack once it defrosts. In addition, water ice packs are typically colorless. However, there are some ice packs that contain a mixture of water and gel, which can be difficult to tell apart from water ice packs. As the pictures on the left show, if your ice pack displays a water symbol, cutting symbol, or similar, then your ice pack contains water.
Recycle your icepacks!
Locations of 18 icepack recycling sites in Seoul
Message us your questions, concerns, and recycling progresses.
Click here to find all recycling sites across Korea
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How can you reuse or recycle ice packs?
Take your ice packs to recycling sites in Korea
In 2019, Gangdong-gu government officially started the ice pack recycling program, setting up 18 stations in Seoul and many more across Korea. As of now, there are more than 30 recycling stations in Seoul, roughly 23 stations in Gyeonggi, and roughly 22 stations in Incheon. These recycling stations collect ice packs and ship these ice packs to facilities for disinfection and redistribution. The map below shows 18 recycling sites in Seoul. You can click the blue button below to find the recycling site closest to you in Seongnam-si.
Click here to find the icepack recycling site closest to you
Participate in ice pack recycling programs offered by delivery companies
With increasing company awareness of the need for ice pack recycling, many different companies have started ice pack recycling programs that collect ice packs to disinfect and reuse them for other shipments. Participating in these programs ensures that ice packs from online deliveries are recycled.
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3. Make hand-made items with your ice packs
- Create a diffuser by putting polymer (gel type) in a suitable container with an aroma oil of your favorite fragrance. Add the perfume to the gel polymer to make a diffuser! Put in your hallways or bathrooms for a sweet smell!
- If you ever feel cold, or have muscle pains due to exercise, no worries! Place an ice pack in the microwave for 30 seconds to 1 minute. When you heat the ice pack, be sure to heat it in intervals of 30 seconds, checking the temperature to prevent it from exploding.
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Our project had the opportunity to be featured in "The Korea Herald", one of the biggest English-language newspapers in South Korea. Go check out the article for more information on our project!
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