The objectives of this study were to determine the recognition of food waste, school lunch leftovers and satisfaction toward school lunch in middle school students in Seoul. Four hundred students were surveyed beginning April, 2007. The results are summarized as follows. The primary means in which students learned about environmental pollution were 'video media' (54.7% males, 39.2% females) and 'by teachers' (23.2% males, 33.0% females). The primary effects on food habits after participating in the school lunch program were 'having a balanced diet' (23.3%) in the females, and 'decreased intake of junk food' (24.9%) in the males. The serving sizes for cooked rice, soup, and meat were higher in the females (3.46, 3.46, and 2,91, respectively) than the males (3.18, 3.29, and 2.73, respectively). The primary school lunch leftovers for one week were cooked rice (4.55), meat (4.35), kimchi (3.84), fish (3.60), vegetables (3.38), and soup (3.08). Importance-performance analysis of the school lunch meal indicated that good taste had high importance, but low performance. Nutritional balance, food safety, cleanliness of tableware and supplies, clean uniforms of employees, and cleanliness of the dining area had both high importance and performance.

The use of mechanical treatment (MT) for preparing solid refuse fuel (SRF) using municipal solid waste has been growing in Korea. One of the problems with using this treatment measure is the generation of residual waste from the MT, which will not be contained in the SRF. Most of this waste will be dumped into landfill instead of being used for the production of SRF. Much of the waste will be organic portions originating from food and biodegradable wastes. Consequently, the organic portion dumped into the landfill generates methane gas, which is a strong greenhouse gas. In this paper, the waste from MT was investigated directly at the MT facility located at Su-Do-Kwon landfill site to develop proper treatment measures to avoid disposing of the MT waste in landfill, which is prohibited in Germany and England.