Offering 100 Million Reward and Pursuing... Gyeonggi-do Takes Action Against the 'Garbage Mountain'

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] Gyeonggi Province has taken strong measures against illegal waste dumping (garbage mountains). This decision comes from the assessment that illegal waste dumping within the province is more serious than expected.

So far, over 740,000 tons of illegal waste have been identified at 92 sites across 16 cities and counties in the province. The province has recently handled about 600,000 tons of this illegal waste either by itself or by tracking down the dumpers. The problem lies with the remaining approximately 140,000 tons at about 50 sites in 13 cities and counties.

To address the disposal of this remaining waste, the province has offered rewards of up to 100 million KRW for reporting dumpers. Additionally, to eradicate illegal dumping, the province has pledged to pursue the dumpers relentlessly and hold them accountable.

◆ Province to pursue illegal dumpers to the end

Gyeonggi Province recently established the "Illegal Waste Dumper Wanted and Public Informant Reward Plan." According to this plan, the province has prioritized five areas within the province where illegal activities have not been identified for years, making restoration difficult, by offering a maximum public informant reward of 100 million KRW.

The targeted areas are ▲ Hwaseong-si Hyangnam-eup (discovered in May 2017, 380 tons of waste synthetic resin dumped, waste disposal completed) ▲ Yeoncheon-gun Cheongsan-myeon (discovered in May 2018, 200 tons of mixed waste dumped, waste disposal completed) ▲ Yeoncheon-gun Yeoncheon-eup (discovered in 2018, 300 tons of mixed waste, waste disposal ongoing) ▲ Pocheon-si Hwacheon-myeon (discovered in August 2018, 738 tons of waste synthetic fiber, waste disposal ongoing) ▲ Pocheon-si Ildong-myeon (discovered in November 2018, 78 tons of waste synthetic fiber, waste disposal ongoing). These sites were first discovered 1 to 3 years ago.

The province also plans to form a dedicated task force (TF) within the Special Judicial Police Unit to monitor illegal waste dumping. The TF will operate temporarily until the end of the year.

Um Jin-seop, Director of the Provincial Environment Bureau, stated, "Illegal waste dumping undermines residents' quality of life, causes secondary environmental pollution, generates criminal profits, and leads to significant social problems. We will pursue the perpetrators to the end to ensure they face legal judgment, and concentrate all administrative efforts on strengthening enforcement systems and activating public reporting to eradicate illegal dumping."

◆ 140,000 tons at 50 sites in the province remain untouched

Illegal waste in the province is scattered across 92 sites in 16 cities and counties, totaling 749,629 tons. Of these, the province has processed 605,513 tons at 42 sites. Therefore, the remaining illegal waste currently stands at 144,116 tons across 50 sites in 13 cities and counties.

By region, Yongin-si has illegal waste at 2 sites totaling 7,500 tons, which it plans to process by the end of this year. Hwaseong-si has removed 262,236 tons from 12 of 17 sites totaling 273,837 tons. The additional waste to be processed is 11,601 tons at 5 sites. Pyeongtaek-si has cleared 33,313 tons from 3 of 6 sites totaling 57,581 tons, leaving 24,268 tons at 3 sites unprocessed. Uijeongbu-si has removed 246,139 tons out of 262,779 tons, with 16,640 tons remaining.

Paju-si has cleared 3,140 tons from 3 of 8 sites totaling 27,900 tons, leaving 24,760 tons at 5 sites. Siheung-si has removed 2,120 tons from 2 of 5 sites totaling 5,036 tons, with 2,916 tons remaining at 3 sites. Gimpo-si has cleared 2,801 tons from 4 of 8 sites totaling 9,580 tons, leaving 6,779 tons unprocessed at 4 sites. Icheon-si has processed 1,816 tons at 2 of 5 sites totaling 10,442 tons, with plans to process the remaining 8,626 tons at 3 sites within the year.

Additionally, ▲ Yangju-si 5,430 tons (4 sites) ▲ Pocheon-si 33,036 tons (16 sites) ▲ Yeoju-si 799 tons (1 site) ▲ Dongducheon-si 1,361 tons (1 site) ▲ Yeoncheon-gun 400 tons (2 sites) also have accumulated illegal waste.

A provincial official said, "Among the 31 cities and counties in the province, 50 sites in 13 local governments still have about 140,000 tons of illegal waste. We will do our best to create a clean Gyeonggi Province by offering rewards for malicious dumpers, relentlessly tracking them down, and holding them accountable."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.