Seoul Upcycling Plaza (서울 새활용 플라자)

 I've been looking for attractive places in Korea that people don't know. I am always happy when I find those good places and share them with others. I found Seoul upcycling plaza accidentally. I was so curious about this place so I wanted to visit there as soon as possible. But these days, I've been busy dealing with a lot of things so I couldn't afford to go but finally, I could visit there last weekend.

 

 Usually, the rainy season in Korea is from July to August, but if you plan to visit Korea during that season, you can also make a traveling route based on indoor activities. There are many fun activities to do indoor in Korea. Next time, I'm going to write an introduction to fun indoor activities that you can experience in Korea. 

 

 The Seoul Upcycling Plaza, since its opening on September 5, 2017, is the world’s largest upcycling cultural complex space, where visitors can observe, learn, and experience everything regarding upcycling. Based on “Self-Recycling Seoul Vision 2030”, the plaza aims to raise environmental, social, and economic awareness of upcycling and to establish an environment for upcycling-based industries. Seoul Upcycling Plaza is a futuristic, high-value industry cultivating the upcycling industry, as well as taking a citizen-friendly approach, raising awareness on upcycling in entertaining ways through experiential education and exhibitions. The plaza shall operate as a hub to expand the culture of upcycling, offering a bright future as one of Seoul’s unique and entertaining tourist attraction. Seoul Upcycling Plaza operates through citizens’ participation in healthy, valuable circulation of production, manufacturing, and consumption in daily lives. Through various educational programs - workshops, performances, exhibitions, etc. – citizens create their new lifestyle choices.

 

 What is Upcycling, a word that often appears here? An act of finding new value in objects that are discarded by adding designs and discovering a new purpose. Upcycling is a new paradigm of recycling resources in order for environmental preservation; carefully considering from the moment objects are made until objects lose their purpose, to extend valuable usage of objects while taking into account the environment and nature.

 

The Seoul upcycling plaza

- Address: 49, Jadongchasijang-gil, Seongdong-gu, Seoul

- Operating time: Tuesday-Sunday 10:00~18:00

- Entrance fee: Free

- Tel: +82-2-2153-0400

- How to get there: 

1. Line 5 Janghanpyeong Station Exit 8 – Walk 400m towards Dapsimni Station – Turn left at Mirabo Tower beside the JCI Korea – Go straight for 300m – Arrive at Seoul Upcycling Plaza 

2. Line 5 Janghanpyeong Station Exit 8 - Take a shuttle bus (08:50-18:20 (on every hour & 20 & 40 minutes at Janghanpyeong Station Exit 8, Operation every 20 minutes)

- Tour: You can ask about the tour program in English by email below. The tour in Korean runs twice a day, from Tuesday to Saturday at 10:00 and 14:00, and you need to make a reservation on the website in advance before visiting.  

jklee@seouldesign.or.kr

- Website: 

서울새활용플라자

 

 

Google Maps

- Video of Seoul upcycling plaza

 

 

 There's a free shuttle bus running from exit no 8 of Line 5 Janghanpyeong Station to Seoul upcycling plaza. I walked away to get there because the tour starts at 2 pm and I arrived at Janghanpyeong Station around 1:50 pm. I think it took about 10 minutes on foot. For me, walking more than 10000 steps a day is nothing during the week. But on the weekend, if I don't make it on purpose, I usually walk 1000~2000 steps so I'm glad these kinds of walking time. 

 

 Walk for about 10 minutes from Janghanpyeong Station to Seoul upcycling plaza, you can find this street. On this street to Seoul upcycling plaza, Famers' market is held on the first and third Saturdays and Sundays of every month. I heard that there is a lot of things to see and eat. If you walk for 2~3 minutes from this street, you can see Seoul upcycling plaza building on your right side. There's nothing else around here, so it won't be hard to find.

 

 

 I made a reservation for a tour program at Seoul upcycling plaza and visited. It took about an hour. If you have the plan to visit, I recommend you make a reservation for a tour program and visit. I was able to take a better look around every corner of Seoul upcycling plaza because of the tour program. In addition, the person who ran the tour program was very kind and she explained well about Seoul upcycling plaza so I had a really good time there. It was nice to know things that I wouldn't have known if I didn't join a tour program. 

 

 On the first floor, I had time to hear about how upcycling differs from recycling, how Seoul upcycling plaza was built, and the status of upcycling in Korea. Then I had time to look around the material bank and workplace on the first basement floor and then look around the upcycling companies on the fourth and third floors. Some of the companies are running upcycling programs on Saturday. 

 

 There are three ways to dispose of waste: landfills, incinerators or throw it into the ocean. But the incinerator is a difficult way to use since it's difficult to build because of people's opposition, and the way to throw it into the ocean is that people realize that trash is starting to mess up the ocean ecosystem, and they don't use it. So there is only one way to dispose of waste. That is landfills. Haneul Park in Seoul is one of the landfills before but the government built a park in a landfill. That's the first time I've ever heard about it. I thought I knew about Seoul well but I realized it is not. There are 3 landfills in Korea. one that is already 100% full and another 97% full. And last but not least, natural monuments began to nest so it became to difficult to use. So the government came up with a new way such as upcycling. I'm good at recycling. But I didn't really know how those are reused such as plastic bottles, glasses, and clothes. It was amazing to see the process of upcycling. 

 

 On the first floor of Seoul upcycling plaza, there are many works that have been recreated through the reuse from the trash. From chandeliers decorated with soju bottles to hippopotamus made from boxes of parcels, it was quite diverse and awesome. 

 

 Those are a material bank and workplace. The person who ran the tour program said that this place is for separating, cleaning and categorizing recycled trash. Then they store materials by material's categories. I heard that the upcycling companies are buying materials from this material bank which is gathering materials from recycled trash. Then upcycling companies recreate new products and works using those materials. In the past, they went to the dumpsite to find materials for their product or work, which was a formidable task. But now, Seoul upcycling plaza which was built with the support of the government takes over the jobs so upcycling companies can focus on their activities to recreate new products and works. 

 

 Upcycled items such as cup coasters using computer chips, speakers using waste tires and pouch using plastic attracted my attention.

 

 

 It is a cargo handling area, and tons of clothes and recycled trash come in a day. Some of them are sent to beautiful shops and some are used as materials for upcycling companies from here and some are discarded again because they are unusable. 

 

 It was time for me to reflect on myself. Come to think of it, I think I've been living so far by overusing so many things. It was a good chance to think about the environment. 

 

 

 After looking around the cargo handling area, I looked around the products and works of the upcycling companies on the third and fourth floors. I think it was the best time of the tour program.  

 

 The only one bag in the world made of discarded suits and the chair made of discarded cosmetic containers and wood.

 

 

 The works made of discarded books.

 

 

 The lamps made of discarded bicycle materials and the products made of discarded leather products. 

 

 

 The products made of the discarded umbrella and discarded wood pallets. 

 

 

 The works made of discarded glass bottles. The products made of discarded coffee bean's bags.

 

 

 The toy made of discarded plastic bottles. The products made of discarded milk paper bottles.

 

 

 There are so many other good products. I wanted to buy some products but I couldn't buy them because there were many offices that weren't open on Saturday. There was a store welling upcycling products in the Seoul upcycling plaza but the product I wanted to buy was no longer available. If I had my own house later, I thought it would be nice to decorate the house only with upcycling products. Of course, it's still a long way off. 

 

 

 Above all, there is the Seoul sewerage science museum right next to Seoul upcycling plaza, so I think it would be a good idea to look around together. If you are looking for something fun things to see or experience in Seoul, I'll recommend it to you! 

 

 I hope this place will become more famous and become a tourist attraction for more and more people. 

 

I recommend this place for those who:

- have interests in recycling and the environment of Korea

- have interests in recycled products with designs on them

- want to experience a fun indoor activities

- have a plan to travel to Dongdaemun or Jamsil or Geondae

 

* If you have any questions or need any help regarding the trip to Korea, please send me a message. I am always ready to help you. I hope everyone who visits Korea makes many good memories of Korea. You can search my chatting room in Telegram messenger t.me/welcometokorea