Gyeonggi Special Judicial Police Conduct Intensive Crackdown on Illegal Waste Disposal by Scrap Dealers

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] Gyeonggi Province is cracking down on illegal disposal of waste by junk dealers within the province.

The Gyeonggi Province Special Judicial Police announced on the 9th that from the 16th to the 27th, they will conduct an intensive investigation targeting recycling waste collection businesses (commonly known as junk dealers) in the province for illegal acts such as abandonment and dumping of waste.

The main targets of the crackdown are ▲ acts of abandoning or dumping waste remaining after separation and sorting ▲ collecting, transporting, or recycling waste items outside the permitted junk dealer categories without authorization ▲ entrusting waste generated during business operations to unqualified persons (unauthorized processors) for disposal ▲ operating junk dealer businesses of a certain scale (area of 2,000㎡) or more without reporting to the relevant city or county authorities ▲ violating processing standards and methods, such as storing waste in a way that causes scattering.

According to the current 'Waste Management Act,' those who dump business waste may face imprisonment of up to 7 years or a fine of up to 70 million won. Additionally, those who collect, transport, or recycle permitted waste without authorization as a business may face imprisonment of up to 5 years or a fine of up to 50 million won; those who entrust disposal to unauthorized processors may face imprisonment of up to 3 years or a fine of up to 30 million won; and those who operate junk dealers with an area of 2,000㎡ or more without reporting or violate waste processing standards and methods may face imprisonment of up to 2 years or a fine of up to 20 million won.

Kim Min-kyung, head of the Gyeonggi Province Special Judicial Police, stated, "Recycling waste collection businesses commonly seen in daily life mostly have an area of less than 2,000㎡ and are not subject to waste disposal reporting, placing them in a blind spot for management. Through this investigation, we plan to prevent the abandonment and dumping of waste in advance and ensure that recycling waste collection businesses play a sound role as a pillar of the resource circulation society."

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