Dongjak-gu Turns Discarded Waste Wood into 'Eco-Friendly Resource'... Saves 60 Million KRW Annually

Agreement on Collaboration for Timber Waste Management between Misong Environmental Industry and Forestry Waste Disposal

Seoul Dongjak-gu (Photo right: Park Il-ha, District Mayor) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Misong Environmental Industry (Photo left: Han Jae-yong, CEO) at Dongjak-gu Office on the 9th to facilitate the recycling of wood waste. Provided by Dongjak-gu Office. Photo by Dongjak-gu Office.

Dongjak-gu, Seoul (Mayor Park Il-ha) is taking the lead in budget savings and carbon neutrality by recycling timber waste generated from urban forest management sites into eco-friendly energy sources.

On the 13th, the district announced that it signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Misong Environmental Industry (CEO Han Jae-yong) on the 9th at Dongjak-gu Office to smoothly promote the resource recycling of timber waste.

The district plans to establish a cooperative system to utilize unused forest biomass, which was previously treated as waste wood at a cost, as an eco-friendly renewable energy source, thereby creating a virtuous cycle of resources.

Unused forest biomass refers to waste wood that does not meet the standard size of lumber or is difficult to collect among by-products generated from forest management activities such as forest tending or roadside tree maintenance. Until now, it has been treated as waste through incineration or landfill.

From now on, when the district collects waste wood generated within the district at designated locations, the contracted company will collect it free of charge, produce it into wood chips and other eco-friendly power generation fuels, and supply it to each power plant. The processing cost saved in this way is about 60 million KRW annually.

In addition, as part of the resource recycling of timber waste, the district will carry out large-scale maintenance of waste timber piled up in various forests within the district. Tree maintenance will be conducted at eight forest sites covering about 170 hectares within the district by next month, with a budget of 500 million KRW invested.

The district plans to create a safe forest environment by removing unnecessary trees such as piled wood and dead trees left unattended in the forest, which could worsen damage in case of floods or forest fires.

Mayor Park Il-ha said, “Recycling discarded waste resources into eco-friendly energy has great significance in saving budgets and establishing a virtuous cycle of resources,” and added, “We will implement various policies to proactively respond to the climate crisis and create a safe forest environment.”