'Mandatory Landfill Facility Installation' Industrial Complexes Allow Pyrolysis Recycling and Incineration Facilities

Seonggeo Industrial Complex

[Asia Economy Sejong=Reporter Dongwoo Lee] In the future, when developing industrial complexes with an annual waste generation of 20,000 tons or more and an area of 500,000㎡ or more, waste plastic pyrolysis recycling facilities and incineration facilities can be installed instead of waste landfill facilities.

The Ministry of Environment announced that the amendment to the Enforcement Decree of the "Act on Promotion of Installation of Waste Treatment Facilities and Support for Surrounding Areas (Waste Facility Promotion Act)" was approved at the Cabinet meeting on the 3rd and will be implemented within this month.

This amendment allows the installation of waste plastic pyrolysis recycling facilities and incineration facilities instead of mandatory landfill facilities when developing industrial complexes above a certain scale.

The Ministry of Environment stated that among the 52 industrial complexes obligated to install waste treatment facilities, 34 have secured sites for waste treatment facilities but have not installed landfill facilities due to lack of business feasibility and complaints. The Ministry explained, "This amendment allows alternative installation of pyrolysis recycling facilities within 50% of the secured landfill site area."

The Ministry of Environment is promoting the production of waste plastic fuel and raw materials through chemical recycling such as pyrolysis as one of the key tasks to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050. Following this amendment to the Enforcement Decree of the Waste Facility Promotion Act, it plans to revise subordinate laws under the Waste Management Act within this year to allow petroleum and chemical companies to use waste plastic pyrolysis oil as a raw material for petroleum products, replacing crude oil.

When recycling waste plastic into pyrolysis oil for use as raw materials, related guidelines have been revised and implemented to recognize greenhouse gas reduction amounts as reduction achievements.

Hong Dong-gon, Director of the Resource Circulation Bureau at the Ministry of Environment, said, "With this amendment to the enforcement decree, it is expected that the utilization of waste treatment facility sites within industrial complexes will increase, bringing us closer to achieving carbon neutrality and a circular economy."

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