"Ending with 3-1 Gonggu Tip"... Incheon City Establishes Dedicated Organization for Sudokwon Landfill Site

Formal Reorganization into an 11-Member Team: Landfill Closure Support Team and Landfill Development Team

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Hyesook] Incheon City will establish the 'Sudogwon Landfill Site Closure Promotion Team' to resolve the Sudogwon Landfill Site issue and will operate it starting from the 20th.

The city announced on the 6th that it will launch a dedicated organization focusing on resolving the Sudogwon Landfill Site issue as an important task to promote the 'Resource Circulation Policy Transformation,' one of the three core projects in the second half of the 7th term of the elected government.

Accordingly, the temporary organization 'Sudogwon Landfill Site Policy Improvement Team,' which was under the Environmental Bureau's Resource Circulation Division, will be reorganized into the official organization 'Sudogwon Landfill Site Closure Promotion Team' by strengthening the staff to 11 members across two teams: the Landfill Closure Support Team and the Landfill Construction Team.

The establishment of the dedicated landfill organization reflects Incheon City's firm intention to end the use of the current Sudogwon Landfill Site in Seo-gu, Incheon, with the completion of Section 3-1 in 2025.

The Landfill Closure Promotion Team plans to renegotiate the four-party agreement among the Ministry of Environment and the three metropolitan cities/provinces in Sudogwon for the closure of the landfill site and to promote the creation of an eco-friendly independent landfill site unique to Incheon.

The four-party consultative body agreed in June 2015 that Seoul City and the Ministry of Environment would transfer the land ownership of the Sudogwon Landfill Site to Incheon City, and in return, the landfill usage period, originally set to end in late 2016, would be extended until the closure of Section 3-1 (1.03 million square meters) landfill (about 10 years). Additionally, during this period, an alternative landfill site would be secured, but if not, an additional 15% of the remaining site (Section 3-2, 1.06 million square meters) could be used.

However, as there has been no progress in discussions among local governments regarding a joint alternative landfill site, Incheon City is concerned that if an alternative landfill site is not established, the current Sudogwon Landfill Site could effectively be used permanently. The city plans to pressure Seoul City and Gyeonggi Province for an agreement to close the current landfill site by proposing the creation of its own landfill site and the construction of an incineration plant.

An Incheon City official stated, "The establishment of the Sudogwon Landfill Site Closure Promotion Team demonstrates the city government's strong will to end the use of the Sudogwon Landfill Site with the completion of Section 3-1 under any circumstances," adding, "We expect that (the closure of the Sudogwon Landfill Site) will be a signal for boldly improving the backward Sudogwon waste policy focused on landfilling over the past 30 years and for a major paradigm shift toward an eco-friendly resource circulation system."

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