Seoul Incineration Plant Construction Halted... Unity of Mapo-gu and Mapo Residents 'Welcomed'

Mapo-gu Welcomes Court Ruling in Favor of Plaintiff in Lawsuit to Cancel Site Decision for Metropolitan Resource Recovery Facility on the 10th
Mayor Park Gang-su of Mapo-gu States, "This Ruling Is a Victory for the Incineration Reduction Policy Continuously Advocated by Mapo-gu and Its Residents, and the Court Has Made a Reasonable Judgment Against the Unilateral and Excessive Incineration Plant Site Decision"

Mapo-gu, Seoul (Mayor Park Gang-su) announced on the 10th that it welcomes the court ruling in favor of the plaintiff in the lawsuit to cancel the public notice of the site decision for the Metropolitan Resource Recovery Facility, decided by the Administrative 11th Division of the Seoul Administrative Court.

This lawsuit was filed by 1,850 residents of Mapo-gu against the site decision for the Metropolitan Resource Recovery Facility announced by Seoul City on August 31, 2023, and the court ruled in favor of the Mapo-gu residents.

Park Gang-su, Mayor of Mapo-gu, expressed his thoughts on the ruling, saying, “This is a victory for the incineration reduction policy that Mapo-gu and its residents have continuously advocated for, and the court has made a reasonable judgment against the unilateral and excessive decision to locate the incineration plant.”

On the day, Mayor Park shared the news of the ruling with residents attending the Seongsan 2-dong Happiness and Communication Day, emphasizing once again his determination to “unite with the residents and block the construction of the incineration plant until the end.”

So far, Seoul City has unilaterally announced Sangam-dong in Mapo-gu as a candidate site for a new incineration plant with a capacity of 1,000 tons in preparation for the landfill ban in 2026, claiming that installing an additional incineration plant is the only alternative.

However, Mapo-gu has clearly opposed this, presenting fundamental solutions to the waste problem against Seoul City’s unilateral administration.

The district conducted research at the entire district office level, centered on the NIMBY (Not In My Backyard) facility task force team, continuously demanding from Seoul City ▲ the unfairness of the incineration plant site selection process ▲ alternative proposals through recycling facilities ▲ introduction of advanced recycling policies ▲ improvement of resource recovery facility operation issues ▲ realistic pricing of volume-based waste bags ▲ and resolution of soil contamination issues.

In particular, Mapo-gu strongly opposed Seoul City’s unilateral push for the incineration plant construction, prioritizing the safety and health of its residents.

Additionally, on November 4, 2024, the district formed the ‘Policy Advisory Group Against Additional Incineration Plant Construction’ and requested supplementation of inappropriate or omitted content in the draft environmental impact assessment based on expert advice.

Through this, the district reiterated the unfairness of pushing forward the incineration plant construction and responded using all means together with the residents.

Nevertheless, Seoul City is said to have consistently engaged in non-communication administration without sincere opinion gathering or verification procedures despite Mapo-gu’s efforts and the residents’ strong opposition.

The district emphasized that this ruling is a significant case where the residents and Mapo-gu directly revealed that Seoul City did not strictly comply with relevant laws and procedures during the project promotion process.

Park Gang-su, Mayor of Mapo-gu, stated, “Rather than forcibly pushing forward the Mapo-gu incineration plant construction, which is fraught with procedural defects and unfairness, priority should be given to improving processing performance through modernization of the current four metropolitan resource recovery facilities and actual waste reduction through recycling,” adding, “Seoul City should now heed Mapo-gu’s solutions regarding the incineration plant.”