How to Throw Away Old Oil in Korea

The trash laws in Korea can be exasperating.  Rather than trying to figure out all the little categories of disposal, I had a friend who would throw away his trash on the street. This caught up to him when he was presented with a hefty 200,000 won fine.  Apparently, they had gone through his trash and found a slip of paper with his address on it.

A bit of a deviation from the usual photos I post.

I've fried french fries for the masses, filtered the oil and reused it to make myself some fried ravioli and fried pickles.  The oil looks nasty.  I'm past the point of filtering and reusing, so I did some research on Naver, and found an answer.

Stuff a 1 liter container with strips of newspaper or cotton cloth.  Pour the oil in and cap it securely.

If you live in an officetel where you sort your trash into different bins, throw this jug of oil in with combustible trash 가연성 쓰레기. Oil is biodegradable so you can also put the container of oil into the regular paid trash bags 일반 쓰레기, and throw it away.

If you live in an old, decrepit building without fancy trash sorting centers, you'll need to dispose of it yourself.  Fortunately for me, my landlady thinks I'm a helpless little baby.  She comes up and takes away all my trash for me.  If it's something like huge pieces of timber (don't ask), you'll need to pay a fine to throw it away.  For combustible trash, she'll ask for 1,000 or 2,000 won to throw it away.

You can also dry the oil out using cat litter, sand or sawdust. Then throw it away like you normally would in the paid trash bags 일반 쓰레기.

In the very least, don't throw the oil down the sink.  It's terrible for your sewage system, and terrible for the environment.  Every time you do it, a baby seal gets covered in petrol slime.

Does anyone else have suggestions for throwing away oil in Korea?