Composed of 12 members including professors, researchers, experts, Baekjihwa Struggle Headquarters representatives, and residents
Policy proposals, expert opinions collection, and public discussion to firmly oppose the construction of an additional incineration plant
Mapo-gu (District Mayor Park Kang-su) announced on November 4th that it has formed a policy advisory group to strongly oppose the construction of an additional incineration plant and will respond firmly to the Seoul Metropolitan Government.
Since August 2022, when the Seoul Metropolitan Government unilaterally announced Sangam-dong in Mapo-gu as the candidate site for a new incineration plant with a capacity of 1,000 tons, Mapo-gu and its residents have continued to fight for the complete cancellation of the site selection.
Through more than ten press conferences, a petition signed by over 57,000 residents, waste characteristic analyses, soil contamination investigations, and operating zero-incineration stores, they have actively expressed to Seoul the unfairness and unnecessary nature of the additional incineration plant construction and proposed alternatives. However, Seoul has ignored Mapo-gu’s appeals and is pushing forward with the construction.
In response, Mapo-gu plans to launch a policy advisory group consisting of 12 members, including professors, researchers, representatives of the Mapo Garbage Incineration Plant Abolition Struggle Headquarters, and residents, to confront Seoul directly.
They intend to prove that building an additional incineration plant is not a fundamental solution to waste management and to propose logical and realistic policies for reducing household waste.
They also announced plans to actively gather expert opinions that thoroughly analyze the problems of the environmental impact assessment draft already announced by Seoul and the health damage to residents caused by the additional incineration plant installation, and to publicize these findings to foster unity among residents for the struggle.
Mapo-gu will hold regular policy advisory group meetings to solidify the justification for canceling the additional incineration plant construction and respond to Seoul’s uncommunicative administration with scientific and logical methods.
Park Kang-su, Mayor of Mapo-gu, stated, “The construction of an additional incineration plant is like inflicting another wound on Mapo residents who have already suffered greatly due to Nanjido and the existing incineration plants.”
He added, “Preventing the unjust construction of the additional Mapo incineration plant is an important duty of the district mayor,” emphasizing, “We will fight to the end to ensure the cancellation of the additional incineration plant construction, which infringes on the health rights, pursuit of happiness, and property rights of 370,000 Mapo residents.”
Meanwhile, on November 5th, Mapo-gu will hold an international forum against waste incineration at the Mapo-gu Office auditorium in cooperation with the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA), discussing overseas cases and arguing that the construction of an additional incineration plant is an outdated policy conflicting with the flow of resource circulation policies.
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