Incheon City Declares End of Metropolitan Landfill by 2025... Announces Public Contest for Independent Landfill Site

Recommendation Submissions for Areas Over 50,000㎡ Accepted Until the 5th of Next Month

Sudogwon Landfill Site

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Hyesook] Incheon City has launched a call for site candidates to establish its own waste landfill site.

The city is preparing for the closure of the current Metropolitan Landfill Site in 2025 and aims to create its own landfill to achieve zero direct landfill of waste under the new resource circulation policy. The call for candidate sites will be open until the 5th of next month.

The Incheon landfill, which will only accept incineration ash from household waste and non-combustible waste, is planned to be developed on a scale of over 50,000㎡ and is expected to receive about 160 tons of waste per day.

To minimize surface exposure and dust generation at the landfill, the city plans to apply an underground landfill method and construct the landfill in the form of a dome or building.

Eligibility to apply for the landfill site includes heads of 10 districts and counties, or heads of towns, townships, and neighborhoods, as well as individuals, corporations, or companies owning land of 50,000㎡ or more.

Earlier in July, the Incheon Public Deliberation Committee recommended that Incheon City establish its own landfill site in preparation for the closure of the Metropolitan Landfill Site in 2025.

An Incheon city official stated, "The establishment of our own landfill site was agreed upon by 93.5% of participating citizens through the public deliberation process," adding, "We cannot delay any longer in preparing for the closure of the Metropolitan Landfill Site, reducing waste, promoting recycling, and implementing an advanced resource circulation policy that encompasses both incineration plants and landfills."

Incheon’s move to establish its own landfill is related to its declaration to end the use of the Metropolitan Landfill Site after the completion of Section 3-1 in 2025.

Considering the environmental damage to residents in Seo-gu near the landfill, the city emphasizes that according to the 2015 agreement of the 'Four-Party Landfill Consultative Body'?comprising the Ministry of Environment, Seoul, Incheon, and Gyeonggi? the current Metropolitan Landfill Site should be closed in 2025, and a joint alternative landfill or individual landfills for the three cities/provinces should be operated at other locations.

However, the Ministry of Environment, Seoul, and Gyeonggi have shown a lukewarm stance toward creating an alternative landfill due to a supplementary clause in the agreement that allows the current landfill to be used even after 2025.

The Four-Party Consultative Body agreed to extend the use period of the Metropolitan Landfill Site, originally set to end in late 2016, until the completion of Section 3-1 (1.03 million㎡) around 2025, in exchange for transferring the land ownership of the landfill site to Incheon City.

However, the supplementary clause in the agreement states that if an alternative landfill is not secured by the landfill closure date, an additional 15% of the remaining site (Section 3-2, 1.06 million㎡) can be used.