Incheon Yeongjong Residents Demand "Withdraw Incineration Plant Candidate Site"... Announce Large-Scale Vehicle Protest

Urging Implementation of the 2021 Resource Circulation Center Joint Agreement on 'Yeongjong Bulgallon'

Residents of Yeongjong area in Incheon are strongly opposing the withdrawal of the candidate site for the waste incineration plant (Resource Circulation Center).

The ‘Yeongjong International City Incineration Plant Residents’ Countermeasure Committee,’ composed of 50 autonomous organizations in the Yeongjong area, held a press conference at the Incheon City Hall briefing room on the 4th, urging, "Withdraw Incheon City’s decision to designate five preliminary candidate sites for the incineration plant only in the Yeongjong area." They warned that if Incheon City does not announce its position by the 11th, they will occupy the mayor’s office and hold large-scale vehicle protests.

The committee stated, "Yeongjong already has a traditional airport incineration plant that has been operating for 23 years, and despite threats to residents’ health rights, the residents have endured it for regional development." They criticized, "Now, to force residents to also take on the waste from the inland old downtown across the sea is demanding only sacrifice from the residents." They added, "Incheon City and five local governments (Jung-gu, Dong-gu, Michuhol-gu, Yeonsu-gu, Namdong-gu) signed a joint agreement on the Resource Circulation Center in 2021, agreeing on the ‘Yeongjong Incineration Plant No’ stance, but just two years later, they broke the promise by designating five candidate sites for the incineration plant in the Yeongjong area."

They also pointed out that the 2021 policy by the 7th elected city government to divide incineration facilities into four zones was an unreasonable policy that excluded geographical characteristics and efficiency.

The committee said, "The western zone, which includes Yeongjong (Jung-gu, Dong-gu, Ongjin-gun), has only 230,000 people, but the northern zone (Seo-gu, Ganghwa) and eastern zone (Gyeyang-gu, Bupyeong-gu) have about 670,000 to 770,000 people, and the southern zone (Yeonsu-gu, Michuhol-gu, Namdong-gu) has about 1.3 million, which is 3 to 6 times more than the western zone, showing a serious population imbalance among the zones." They criticized, "Despite this, the city plans to invest 200 billion KRW each to build 300-ton incinerators in the western and eastern zones, which is inefficient and a waste of budget."

They warned that if Incheon City does not announce its position by the 11th, they will start a tent protest, occupy the mayor’s office, and hold large-scale vehicle demonstrations.

Earlier, Incheon City decided to establish three large-scale incinerators by zone in preparation for the ban on direct landfill of municipal waste in 2026, selecting five candidate sites within Jung-gu’s Yeongjong International City as the western zone incinerator candidates. The site selection committee, formed in November 2021, selected a professional research institute to analyze about 5,000 locations in Jung-gu and Dong-gu, and after seven meetings, made this decision. The committee planned to narrow the five candidate sites to three at a meeting in July, but postponed it due to strong opposition from Yeongjong residents.

Incheon City plans to hold meetings with Yeongjong residents and select the optimal site among the candidates through a public discussion process. A city official said, "The most important factor when deciding the site is resident acceptance," and added, "Since the target completion date for the western zone incinerator is 2028, we will continue communication with Yeongjong residents."