Jeju-si, Over 300 Tons of Food Waste Illegally Dumped... No Disposal Measures in Place

Jeju-si Environmental Facility Management Office Changes Food Waste Disposal Method, Leaves Waste Illegally Stored for Over 20 Days
No Measures to Handle Illegally Abandoned 'Food Waste,' Nearby Residents Suffer Severe Odor Damage
Waste Contractor: "Rotting Waste Produces Harmful Gases, Unable to Process Existing Waste"

About 300 tons of food waste have been illegally left unattended at the incineration workshop within the Jeju City Environmental Facilities Management Office located in Bonggae-dong, Jeju City, causing harmful gases and foul odors to spread as the food decomposes. Photo by Park Chang-won

[Jeju=Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Park Chang-won] It has been confirmed that about 300 tons of food waste, which should have been processed at the Jeju City Environmental Facilities Management Office's food waste treatment plant, were left unattended for about 20 days from the end of September, causing severe odor damage to tourists visiting nearby tourist spots and local residents.

The Jeju City Environmental Facilities Management Office notified the service company, which had been entrusted with food waste disposal, in August that the contract would end by the end of this month and signed a consignment contract with another company.

The reason for changing the consignment company is to change the food waste treatment method.

Since August, during the process of changing the method, the Environmental Facilities Management Office reduced the daily processing volume of the existing company from 60 tons to 40 tons and conducted a pilot project by incinerating the remaining 20 tons at the Bonggae-dong incineration plant.

However, from the end of September, due to opposition from the residents' countermeasure committee, food waste could not be incinerated at the incineration plant, and the Environmental Facilities Management Office began to illegally store and leave the waste in the disposal worksite inside the office.

As about 20 tons of unprocessed food waste accumulated daily for about 20 days, now about 300 tons have piled up.

As the investigation began, the Jeju City Environmental Facilities Management Office sent an official letter to the existing consignment company requesting them to process about 60 tons per day.

However, the consignment company suddenly stated that processing 60 tons was physically impossible.

"The existing treatment method is based on microorganisms, and microorganisms cannot suddenly multiply. Moreover, the equipment and manpower are set for 40 tons, so additional equipment and manpower cannot be deployed," they said.

While this administrative error by Jeju City occurred, the damage was directly borne by nearby tourist spots and residents.

A Mr. A, who works as a game assistant at the H Golf Course near the Environmental Facilities Management Office, explained, "Since the end of September, there were three holidays with many mainland visitors, but the odor was severe throughout the holidays, causing many complaints from visitors."

Mr. B, a nearby resident living in Bonggae-dong, expressed dissatisfaction with Jeju City's odor countermeasures, saying, "The odor is not just for a day or two; we just live with it," criticizing the measures as mere words.

Meanwhile, a representative of the Jeju City Environmental Management Office only said, "We will handle it without problems," but has not presented any clear measures despite the residents' damage.

Jeju=Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Park Chang-won captain@asiae.co.kr

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