Yeongsangang Regional Environmental Office Invests 26.8 Billion KRW in National Funds to Promote Household Waste Treatment and Recycling

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Gwan-woo] The Yeongsan River Basin Environmental Office announced on the 18th that it will provide 26.8 billion KRW in national funds this year to ensure proper treatment of household waste and promote recycling within its jurisdiction.

By region, 6.2 billion KRW will be allocated to 2 sites in Gwangju Metropolitan City, 9.3 billion KRW to 15 sites in Jeollanam-do, 4.7 billion KRW to 3 sites in Hadong, Gyeongsangnam-do, and 6.6 billion KRW to 1 site in Jeju-do.

By facility, 18.2 billion KRW will be invested in 15 landfill and incineration facilities, and 8.6 billion KRW in 6 household resource recovery centers.

The area under the jurisdiction of the Yeongsan River Office has a particularly large number of island regions compared to other cities and counties, and waste generated in island areas is difficult to transport to the mainland for processing, making local treatment by region more effective.

Accordingly, since 2015, the Yeongsan River Office has supported 24 sites with 27.5 billion KRW for waste treatment in island areas, and plans to increase the scale of support in the future.

In addition, a waste resource recycling policy will be promoted in parallel to more efficiently circulate waste resources generated during the household waste treatment process. Six incineration facilities plan to convert incineration heat into steam to supply to nearby areas or for their own use, and household resource recovery centers will sort, collect, and utilize recyclable resources, which is expected to contribute to reducing carbon emissions within the region.

Ryu Yeon-gi, head of the Yeongsan River Office, said, “Considering the economic downturn caused by COVID-19, we plan to execute more than 60% of the budget early in the first half of the year, and we will do our best to realize the ‘2050 Carbon Neutrality’ goal through efficient management of waste resources and maximization of resource recycling.”