[Asia Exclusive] "Landfilling is the most primitive waste disposal method... Must shift to recycling and incineration"

Interview with Minister Han Jeong-ae of Environment
Ban on Direct Landfilling of Metropolitan Area Household Waste to Begin in 2026, First Step to Solve Landfill Issues
Discussion on New Landfill Sites Possible After Next Year’s Local Elections

Environment Minister Han Jeong-ae is being interviewed by Asia Economy on the 9th. / Photo by Moon Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Joo Sang-don] Minister of Environment Han Jeong-ae expressed regret over the failure of all calls for alternative landfill sites in the Seoul metropolitan area. The Ministry of Environment, along with Incheon and Seoul cities, Gyeonggi Province, and the Seoul Metropolitan Landfill Management Corporation, conducted the first round of calls for candidate sites for alternative landfills from January to April this year, followed by a second round targeting local governments until early this month, but all were unsuccessful.

She said, "Although it did not lead to actual participation in the call, there were about two local governments that showed interest," adding, "However, they felt burdened to make a decision ahead of next year's local elections."

Minister Han realized the need to change waste disposal methods toward reducing waste volume while observing the increasing saturation of the Incheon landfill site and the two rounds of the call process.

She emphasized, "Landfilling is the most primitive waste disposal method, and methane gas generated after landfilling is a greenhouse gas 28 times stronger than carbon dioxide," adding, "We need to shift from direct landfilling of waste to recycling or incineration methods." She further explained, "If rare metals can be recovered from the ash remaining after incineration and the rest can be recycled, the amount of waste to be landfilled will significantly decrease."

This is also a desperate measure to delay the saturation point of the metropolitan landfill in the situation where a new landfill site cannot be found. The reason Minister Han cited the ban on direct landfilling of metropolitan household waste starting in 2026 as the first step to solving the metropolitan landfill issue is the same. She individually met with Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon, Incheon Mayor Park Nam-chun, and Gyeonggi Governor Lee Jae-myung, and reached an agreement to, in principle, ban direct landfilling of metropolitan household waste from 2026. Based on this, the Ministry of Environment promulgated the 'Waste Management Act Enforcement Rules' on the 6th, which prohibits the landfilling of household waste contained in volume-based waste bags without sorting or incineration. If direct landfilling of household waste is banned, the amount brought to the landfill will be reduced to up to about 10% of the current level.

Reducing the amount of landfill will delay the saturation time of the currently used Incheon 3-1 landfill site. The average daily landfill amount until June this year was 10,112 tons, which is 84.2% of the planned amount (12,000 tons per day). With the ban on direct landfilling of household waste starting in 2026 and the earlier ban on direct disposal of construction waste over 5 tons from construction sites starting next year, the saturation time will be extended beyond the originally expected 2025.

Minister Han stated that although the two rounds of calls for landfill candidate sites failed, there is still potential. She said, "After next year's local government elections, there will be a way to discuss with the central government."