The relocation project of the ‘Resource Recovery Facility’ in Suwon City, Gyeonggi Province, is being promoted with an emphasis on being resident-friendly.
Suwon City announced on the 17th that it has decided to underground all waste treatment facilities and develop the upper area into convenience facilities such as indoor sports facilities including a swimming pool, reflecting residents' preferences. Accordingly, the city has revised the design of the ongoing ‘Preliminary Survey Service for Site Selection of Resource Recovery Facility Relocation’ to incorporate this concept.
The main changes include ▲ plans for facility complexification such as undergrounding waste treatment facilities and creating upper space ▲ establishment of convenience facility plans such as a multipurpose gymnasium ▲ expansion of expert consultations in various fields.
Following the design revision, Suwon City extended the completion date of the service, originally scheduled for March this year, by nine months to December.
Suwon City is carefully selecting candidate sites to minimize confusion and conflicts arising from the relocation of the resource recovery facility. In addition, the city plans to increase tangible benefits to expand public consensus and change the facility’s name through a public contest to comprehensively reflect characteristics such as eco-friendliness, convenience, and safety.
As part of its awareness improvement plan, Suwon City released a bird’s-eye view reflecting the concept of a ‘resident-friendly resource recovery facility.’
The conceptual bird’s-eye view, excluding the site location, includes a gymnasium above the fully undergrounded facility, a fountain and water play area, outdoor sports facilities, a park, and a walking trail. The types and scale of convenience facilities will be decided later by reflecting citizens’ opinions through contests and surveys.
The Suwon City Resource Recovery Facility relocation project involves constructing a new facility to replace the existing one in Yeongtong 1-dong, Yeongtong-gu. The total project cost is estimated to be around 400 billion KRW depending on the site location.
After three unsuccessful calls for candidate sites in 2023 and difficulties in selecting an alternative site, Suwon City launched its own site exploration by commissioning a preliminary survey service in March last year.
Once the service is completed, Suwon City plans to form a site selection committee including representatives of candidate site residents and complete the new resource recovery facility by 2032 after feasibility studies, public hearings, and strategic environmental impact assessments.
A Suwon City official said, "This design revision of the service means we have taken the first step toward a ‘resource recovery facility that benefits citizens.’ We will find the optimal site and complete the safest facility based on two main principles: ‘minimizing environmental impact’ and ‘maximizing citizen convenience.’"
Separately from the relocation, Suwon City is carrying out a project to improve the aging existing facility. This is to prevent a waste crisis in line with the ‘ban on direct landfill of garbage’ to be implemented in January next year. The city plans to finalize the project implementer in the first half of this year and complete the project by the first half of 2028.
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