Jeju's Troubled 'Gamgyulbak'... Missing Eco-Friendly Business Opportunities Due to Regulations

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Kim Young-hoon, CEO of Ilhae Co., Ltd., is explaining the process of 'gamgyulbak' generation.
[Photo by Small and Medium Business Ombudsman Press Corps]

[Jeju=Asia Economy Reporter Kim Jong-hwa] "The government now needs to examine why social costs increase every year."

This was the first remark from CEO Kim Young-hoon, whom we met on the 14th at Ilhae located in Jocheon-eup, Jeju City. Having worked for years to resolve regulations, Kim’s statement carries weight. It is both a lament about the reality where technology developed to solve the troublesome issue of 'gamgyulbak' (mandarin orange pulp) in Jeju?allowing it to be recycled as a resource?is blocked by regulations, and an indirect criticism of the inflexible public sector.

Ilhae is a producer of concentrated mandarin orange juice, processing 20,000 tons of gamgyul annually, of which about 40%, or 8,000 tons, remains as gamgyulbak. Gamgyulbak consists of the peel and byproducts left after juicing mandarin oranges, generating about 50,000 to 60,000 tons annually in Jeju alone. Until about 30 years ago, this legally defined waste was dumped into the open sea; about 20 years ago, it began to be used as livestock feed, but gamgyulbak disposal remains a headache for Jeju residents. Ilhae spends about 500 million KRW annually?around 5% of its sales?to supply gamgyulbak to local livestock farms.

The peel and byproduct 'Gamgyulbak' left after juicing tangerines.
[Photo by Ilhae]

Gamgyulbak, once a disposal cost burden, hoped to transform into a revenue source...

In 2010, Wolja Paper, which supplied packaging materials to Ilhae, developed a technology to manufacture corrugated cardboard base paper by mixing gamgyulbak with waste paper sludge in appropriate ratios and even obtained a patent. This created an opportunity for gamgyulbak, previously treated as waste requiring disposal fees, to transform into a revenue source purchased by the paper company.

However, this opportunity was blocked by regulations. In recent years, demand for mandarin orange juice has declined, and livestock farms have decreased, making the sustainability of feed disposal uncertain. In response, Ilhae and Wolja Paper, which holds the technology, pursued commercialization of gamgyulbak corrugated cardboard but discovered that gamgyulbak cannot be used to make corrugated cardboard.

According to the Enforcement Rules of the Waste Management Act, gamgyulbak is not included in the types of recyclable plant residues, so while it can be used as feed or fertilizer, it cannot be recycled as paper material. When inquiring with the Ministry of Environment, the response was that "gamgyulbak is not recognized as a circular resource."

Ilhae and Wolja Paper argue, "Coffee grounds, rice husks, and rice bran are recognized as circular resources, so why not gamgyulbak, which has even greater economic value?" In March, the Ministry of Environment partially amended the 'Notice on Procedures and Methods for Recognizing Circular Resources' after an increase in coffee consumption led to more coffee grounds, recognizing coffee grounds as circular resources. This excluded coffee grounds from waste, allowing their use as biofuel.

CEO Kim said, "For 22 years, we have produced mandarin orange juice raw materials and provided sweet feed to livestock farms, but recently, both mandarin orange juice sales and dairy farms have declined, causing difficulties," adding, "Since gamgyulbak has low toxicity and high resource utilization value, please recognize it as a circular resource like coffee grounds so it can be recycled into paper or packaging materials."

Lee Chang-yong, CEO of Woljajeji (center), is explaining the advantages of the corrugated base paper (bright paper on the right) made by recycling mandarin orange peel. To the left of CEO Lee is Kim Young-hoon, CEO of Ilhae.
[Photo by Small and Medium Business Ombudsman Press Corps]

Reducing environmental pollution and waste disposal costs, a 'win-win' for mandarin orange farmers and processors

Lee Chang-yong, CEO of Wolja Paper, emphasized, "The base paper made by mixing gamgyulbak has excellent burst strength and tensile strength and is highly water-resistant, making it the best material for producing corrugated cardboard boxes for agricultural and marine products," adding, "If gamgyulbak, previously treated as waste, can be used as a raw material for corrugated cardboard base paper, it will reduce the cost of base paper, benefiting everyone." As the manufacturing cost of corrugated cardboard decreases, Jeju’s mandarin orange processors and farmers can reduce the cost of purchasing corrugated cardboard boxes, while also reducing environmental pollution and waste disposal costs significantly.

Wolja Packaging, a subsidiary of Wolja Paper, has already completed facility expansion for producing corrugated cardboard using gamgyulbak and secured a sales channel worth 3 billion KRW annually, but is unable to break through due to regulations. CEO Lee lamented, "Although it is evaluated as eco-friendly paper and is about 30% more expensive than existing paper, demand is actually increasing," adding, "We have secured a market that can consume 30 tons per day, but the regulations remain unresolved."

The Small and Medium Business Ombudsman, which is negotiating with the Ministry of Environment to recognize gamgyulbak as a circular resource, stated, "The Ministry of Environment is willing to partially accept it." Kim Do-hyung, a specialist at the Small and Medium Business Ombudsman, explained, "The Ministry of Environment is revising the recognition criteria for circular resources to be more lenient," adding, "However, they responded that if it is verified to be harmless to the environment and human health, it can be recycled as a circular resource." This means that gamgyulbak must prove harmlessness through a recycling environmental assessment.

In response, Ilhae has applied for consulting to prepare for the recycling environmental assessment. While confident about the assessment results, CEO Kim’s anxiety grows as the mandarin orange farming season approaches day by day. He said, "The recycling environmental assessment takes over eight months, and it is uncertain whether the Ministry of Environment will approve it afterward," adding, "We work for three months from November to January to earn a living for the year. This year is already lost, but I hope next year we can recycle it as paper material."

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