Amendment to the Enforcement Decree of the Act on Transboundary Movement of Waste Approved at the Cabinet Meeting
[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bo-kyung] The import of unnecessary waste such as coal ash and waste paper will be banned.
The Ministry of Environment announced on the 24th that the amendment to the "Enforcement Decree of the Act on the Transboundary Movement and Disposal of Waste" was approved at the Cabinet meeting and will be promulgated and enforced from the 31st.
Recently, there has been a trend of importing waste from abroad even though 100% of domestically generated waste is not being recycled. Coal ash and waste paper are representative examples. In 2018, 1 million tons of coal ash generated by the five major power companies were landfilled, while domestic cement companies imported 1.27 million tons of coal ash from overseas, including Japan. The import volume of waste paper also increased from 814,000 tons in 2018 to 1.07 million tons last year.
Last year, the import volume of recyclable waste (2.52 million tons) was 15 times the export volume (170,000 tons). This raised concerns that it makes domestic waste recycling difficult and exacerbates the instability of the recycling market.
The amended enforcement decree prohibits the import of waste designated by the Minister of Environment for proper management and promotion of recycling of domestically generated waste.
The Ministry of Environment plans to take measures starting with major items such as coal ash and waste paper, which have large import volumes or have shown problems such as refusal of collection. The designation of import-prohibited items will be determined by comprehensively reviewing domestic recycling rates, substitution possibilities, and environmental and industrial impacts.
Lee Young-gi, Director of the Resource Circulation Policy Division at the Ministry of Environment, stated, "Through this amendment to the enforcement decree, we expect to prevent side effects caused by excessive waste imports and help activate the recycling of domestic waste."
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