Recycling is receiving increasing social attention today as our nation begins to grapple with the significant problems caused by huge amount of municipal solid waste. The topic of recycling is not simple but extremely complicated. This study attempts to provide basic data and policy options for expanding and improving separated collection and recycling in public residential areas, through three case study of apartment housing areas in Taegu Metropolitan City. The main results of this study are summarized as follows. For the significant period of time, all three case areas had in common the extreme difficulty in establishing and operating the system of connecting public participation, collection and storage, transportation, and actual recycling of materials because of a variety of problems involved in this process. Both amounts of and prices for collected materials fluctuated considerably over time mainly due to monthly changes in recyclable home materials and the dynamic nature of recycling markets. Public questionnaire survey revealed the very high level of participation in separated collection, not only because almost all respondents well understood the necessity and importance of recycling, but because they also knew how to do separated collection. But overall activities were rated low and most respondents suggested the enlargement of public participation, the improvement of collection and storage facilities, and collection transportation networks. In particular, most respondents had little experience of using recycled products and used mainly reproduced soap and bathroom tissue. Furthermore, they were considerably unsatisfied with low variety and quality of recycled products, their high prices and low availability in the market. Finally potential policy options and activities for improving separated collection and recycling are suggested.