Illegal Activities by Waste Collection Companies in Gyeonggi-do Persist... Provincial Special Judicial Police Detect 68 Cases

[Asia Economy (Suwon) = Reporter Lee Young-gyu] It has been confirmed that illegal activities by waste collection companies in Gyeonggi Province continue.

The Gyeonggi Province Special Judicial Police for Public Welfare announced on the 21st that from the 16th to the 27th of last month, they conducted an intensive investigation of 360 major scrap yards in 31 cities and counties within the province and uncovered 68 companies that violated the "Waste Management Act" by collecting over 27,000 tons of waste without permission for years, recycling it, or operating a 3,000㎡ waste sorting facility without notifying the authorities.

Among the major cases uncovered, five scrap yards located in Goyang, Namyangju, Guri, and Pocheon were caught outsourcing the processing of business waste (mixed waste including scrap metal, waste synthetic resin, and waste soil, commonly called dust) generated from recycling ferrous and non-ferrous waste to Mr. A, an unlicensed waste processor located in Seo-gu, Incheon. It was revealed that Mr. A collected and recycled approximately 27,000 tons of dust waste from scrap yards in the metropolitan areas of Gyeonggi and Incheon without a license from December 2019 to May of this year.

Mr. B, a waste recycling operator in Pocheon City, was caught during this crackdown for collecting 750 tons of waste synthetic resin without permission from November 2019 to May this year, then crushing and grinding it before selling it as recycled material. To recycle waste synthetic resin other than synthetic resin packaging materials, one must obtain a waste processing business license and operate legally.

Mr. C, who operates a recyclable waste sorting facility larger than 3,000㎡ in Pocheon City, was caught for running a scrap yard business that sorted and sold 2,800 tons of recyclable waste such as scrap metal, waste packaging materials, and glass bottles collected from apartment complexes in northern Gyeonggi from August 2020 to March this year without notifying the relevant authorities. Operating a scrap yard larger than 2,000㎡ (1,000㎡ for special or metropolitan cities) requires filing a waste processing report.

Kim Min-kyung, head of the Gyeonggi Province Special Judicial Police for Public Welfare, stated, "Recycling waste collection companies, commonly called scrap yards, are mostly classified as small businesses and have not been properly managed until now. We will continue to guide and crack down to ensure scrap yards play a healthy role as a pillar of the resource circulation society. We also plan to identify vulnerable areas and conduct tailored investigations to eradicate illegal waste activities."

Meanwhile, a survey conducted by Gyeonggi Province in 2020 and 2021 targeting 1,000 residents aged 18 and over showed that for two consecutive years, "environmental pollution" was ranked as the top priority area requiring expanded and strengthened crackdowns.

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