Mapo-gu to Significantly Reduce Incinerated Waste

Focus on business sites, intensified mixed waste disposal enforcement and guidance for large waste generators over 300kg... 85 personnel including district and neighborhood staff, environmental officers, conducting focused inspections with administrative guidance and fines... Developing a separate collection system for rapidly increasing coffee grounds, full expansion planned from 2024

Mapo-gu (Mayor Park Gang-su) announced its determination to take a full-scale stand against incinerated household waste by strengthening investigations and crackdowns on mixed waste disposal and large-scale waste-generating businesses.

In July, an inspection of about 20 tons of volume-based waste brought to the Mapo Resource Recovery Facility revealed the seriousness of mixed disposal, where food waste and various recyclable materials were mixed together.

Also, as of the end of last year, an investigation into the annual household waste generation per household by neighborhood showed that the waste generation in Seogyo, Yeonnam, and Hapjeong-dong?areas with many businesses?was more than twice the neighborhood average of 293.9 kg. The district concluded that this was because many large-scale waste-generating businesses, which produce more than 300 kg of household waste daily, dispose of waste using general volume-based waste bags instead of outsourcing waste treatment themselves.

In particular, Mapo-gu is currently opposing the construction of a new incineration plant in Sangam-dong and is promoting the reduction of incinerated waste through the Mapo-style household waste reduction policy, making the community’s proper waste disposal efforts more crucial than ever.

Accordingly, the district has deployed a total of 85 personnel, including environmental officers from the Mapo Resource Circulation Division, cleaning staff from community service centers, and environmental security officers, to intensify crackdowns on mixed household waste disposal since September, investigating businesses that generate more than 300 kg of waste daily.

During the day, 55 personnel work in shifts four days a week by district, while at night, 20 personnel form inspection teams to conduct guidance and enforcement from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., focusing on businesses. Through these day and night intensive crackdowns, the district reported that by the end of last month, a total of 544 administrative guidance cases and 475 fines were imposed for violations of waste disposal regulations.

Additionally, in habitual complaint areas such as Hongdae and traditional markets, 10 promotional staff have been guiding waste disposal methods and restrictions on single-use items, distributing promotional materials to a total of 285 locations and conducting 2,324 educational sessions.

Moreover, to drastically reduce incinerated waste, Mapo-gu conducted a full survey last month on the coffee grounds disposal status of coffee shops in the area. With 200,000 tons of coffee beans imported annually and coffee grounds being versatile for use as compost or fuel pellets, they are currently all incinerated as household waste.

Based on the analysis of this data, Mapo-gu plans to select pilot neighborhoods for separate coffee grounds disposal and is proceeding with agreements on separate disposal with about 100 coffee shops in the area. Starting next year, the district plans to fully expand separate coffee grounds disposal to significantly reduce incinerated household waste.

Mayor Park Gang-su said, “We can no longer overlook mixed waste disposal, waste from large-scale waste-generating businesses that explosively increase incinerated waste in Mapo-gu, and the rapidly increasing coffee grounds waste. I earnestly ask all residents to actively participate in Mapo-gu’s efforts to drastically reduce incinerated waste for our health and environment.”

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