Duplicate Certification for Recycled Aggregates to Be Eliminated... Ministry of Land to Manage Under Unified KS Certification

Recycled Aggregates from Construction Waste
KS Certification Now Streamlined with a Single Application
Key Step: Passage of Construction Waste Management Act Amendment

The quality certification system for aggregates made from processed construction waste will be unified. The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport will integrate and manage the certification systems, which had previously been operated separately by two different ministries, into a single KS certification.

On December 25, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced that it has designated three items as subject to KS certification in order to integrate recycled aggregate quality certification into the KS certification system. However, full integration will only be completed once the bill abolishing the existing certification system passes the National Assembly.

Aggregates by Thickness. Recycled aggregates refer to aggregates made by physically or chemically processing construction waste to meet quality standards. Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport

Aggregates refer to sand, gravel, and similar materials that are mixed to produce concrete or asphalt. They are essential materials for constructing buildings or paving roads. Recycled aggregates are made by crushing concrete and asphalt chunks generated at building demolition sites and classifying them by size so they can be reused. As they help reduce environmental damage caused by the extraction of natural aggregates and enable the recycling of construction waste, their use has been increasing.

Producers and sellers of recycled aggregates must obtain quality certification. The problem was that there were two separate certification channels. Quality certification under the Construction Waste Recycling Promotion Act (under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport), introduced to promote the recycling of construction waste, coexisted with KS certification under the Industrial Standardization Act (under the jurisdiction of the Korean Agency for Technology and Standards). From the perspective of companies, this meant they faced the burden of having to obtain two similar certifications for the same product.

On December 22, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport convened the Construction Technology Review Committee and designated three types of recycled aggregates as subject to KS certification. These are recycled aggregates for asphalt concrete (KS F 2572), recycled aggregates for concrete (KS F 2573), and recycled aggregates for road subbase (KS F 2574). In August, the ministry took over responsibility for KS standards related to recycled aggregates from the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy.

KS Certified Recycled Aggregate. Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport

Going forward, companies seeking quality certification for recycled aggregates will only need to apply for KS certification to the Korea Institute of Civil Engineering and Building Technology, which serves as the certification body.

The bill to abolish the existing quality certification system under the Construction Waste Recycling Promotion Act, sponsored by Assemblywoman Lim Ija, is currently pending in the National Assembly. Once the amendment is passed, the procedure for integrating the quality certification systems will be complete.

The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport plans to raise the level of oversight by examining not only product quality but also quality management, materials management, and process management during KS certification reviews.

Kim Sunghwan, Director of the Construction Industry Division at the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport, said, "Because aggregates are the foundation of safety for buildings and infrastructure, the supply of high-quality aggregates is crucial," adding, "Through a unified KS certification system, we will work to ensure that recycled aggregates are smoothly supplied to the construction market, leading to stable aggregate supply and demand and strengthened competitiveness in the construction industry."