Busan is good

Busan Metropolitan City Responds to Neglected Waste Medicines through Senior Employment… Signs Business Agreement with Health Insurance Review & Assessment Service Busan Regional Office

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Busan Metropolitan City (Mayor Park Heong-joon) announced that on the morning of August 25 at 10:00 a.m., it signed a “Business Agreement on Safe Waste Medicine Collection and Creation of Eco-friendly Senior Jobs” with the Health Insurance Review & Assessment Service Busan Regional Office and held a donation ceremony for sponsored supplies at the 12th floor small conference room of City Hall.

The ceremony was attended by the Director General of Social Welfare Bureau of the city, Park Jeong-hye, Head of the Busan Regional Office of the Health Insurance Review & Assessment Service, and Cheon Young-gwon, President of the Busan Senior Club Association.

Overview of the Signing Ceremony and Donation Ceremony

• ●Date/Place: August 25, 2025 (Mon) 10:00–10:30 / City Hall, 12th floor small conference room

• ●Participating Organizations: Busan Metropolitan City (Director General of Social Welfare Bureau), Health Insurance Review & Assessment Service Busan Regional Office (Head of Office), Busan Senior Club Association (President)

The “Eco-friendly Senior Job Project for Safe Waste Medicine Collection” is a welfare–environment–health convergence senior job model designed to address the growing issue of waste medicines and provide seniors with meaningful opportunities for social participation.

Through this agreement:

• ●Busan Metropolitan City will oversee the creation and support of eco-friendly senior jobs for safe waste medicine collection.

• ●The Health Insurance Review & Assessment Service Busan Regional Office will provide education on waste medicine separation and disposal for participating seniors and support dedicated waste medicine collection boxes.

Beginning in September, approximately 2,000 seniors across Busan will commence activities under the “Visiting Safe Waste Medicine Collection Service,” helping prevent environmental pollution and safeguarding citizens’ health. Participating seniors will visit apartment complexes, senior centers, and other sites to collect waste medicines, while also guiding citizens on proper disposal practices. Collected waste medicines will be safely disposed of through designated procedures.

In the context of an aging population and an increase in chronic diseases, leading to more unused or discarded medicines in households, this initiative is expected to address social issues through senior employment while delivering tangible benefits such as securing clean tap water, enhancing safety in living environments, and preventing household accidents caused by unused medicines. It is also expected to reduce risks of indiscriminate disposal or misuse of waste medicines, thereby protecting citizens’ health.

Following the signing of the agreement, the Health Insurance Review & Assessment Service Busan Regional Office donated supplies to ensure that seniors participating in the program can carry out activities safely during the summer. This included 2,000 cooling towels and 35 dedicated waste medicine collection boxes, which were delivered to the Busan Branch of the Korean Senior Club Association.

The collection boxes will be installed in accessible locations such as local senior centers, senior clubs, and administrative welfare centers during September, enabling citizens to easily dispose of household waste medicines.

Meanwhile, Busan Metropolitan City is already achieving tangible results in the field of eco-friendly senior jobs. The “Eco-friendly Senior Job Project for Safe Waste Medicine Collection” is expected to expand Busan-style eco-friendly senior jobs and drive sustainable change.

• ●In 2022, the city became the first in the nation to establish the “Our Neighborhood ESG (Environmental, Social, Governance) Center,” pioneering eco-friendly senior jobs such as the resource circulation team.

• ●In May this year, it developed and operated the nation’s first “ESG Travel Docent” program, creating Busan-style eco-friendly senior jobs, and in July won the top prize in the Ministry of Health and Welfare’s national contest for new senior job items.

Jeong Tae-gi, Director General of the Social Welfare Bureau of the city, stated, “This agreement is expected to serve as a model case that simultaneously realizes three values: expanding seniors’ social participation, promoting citizens’ health, and protecting the environment. Going forward, we will continue to discover and expand sustainable eco-friendly senior jobs to create a healthy and happy ‘Safe Busan’ for all citizens.”