"Waste Processed in Chungnam 62% Brought from Other Regions... Are Residents Only Suffering?"

It has been found that 62% of the total waste processed in Chungnam was brought in from regions outside Chungnam. However, there are no substantial support measures for residents in the areas surrounding waste treatment sites, leading to concerns that the damages caused by waste processing are being directly passed on to the residents.

According to Jeong Woo-taek, a member of the National Assembly's Public Administration and Security Committee (Chungbuk Cheongju Sangdang-gu, People Power Party), over the past five years, private companies entrusted with waste incineration or landfill in Chungnam processed a total of 3,105,014 tons of waste, of which 1,941,342 tons (62.5%) were brought in from other regions.

Provided by Jeong Woo-taek's office

In particular, among the waste brought in from other cities and provinces for entrusted processing, household waste accounted for 134,079 tons (6.9%), while industrial (business site) waste accounted for 1,807,263 tons (93.1%), showing an overwhelmingly high proportion of industrial waste.

Industrial waste is a broad concept that includes facility waste, construction waste, designated waste, medical waste, and others discharged from business sites.

Generally, waste generated in a region should be processed within that region according to the principle of processing at the place of generation.

However, in most regions, expansion of waste treatment facilities is avoided due to complaints, and waste is frequently transported and processed in other regions that already operate related facilities.

This is the same reason why a large amount of waste has been inflowed into Chungnam.

The problem is that despite processing waste generated in other regions, proper support for residents who suffer damages during the waste treatment process is not being provided.

At least for household waste, a responsibility processing system (imposing cooperation fees for inflow) is scheduled to be implemented from December next year following a related law amendment in December 2022.

In contrast, industrial waste is not included in the scope of the amended law, making it difficult to restrict industrial waste brought in from other cities and provinces, and support for residents is also insufficient.

Jeong Woo-taek stated, “For industrial waste as well, a responsibility processing system such as imposing cooperation fees for inflow should be introduced like household waste,” and added, “Above all, it is an urgent task to ensure that residents in the influence zones of waste treatment facilities receive substantial support.”

Data on private entrusted processing of waste brought in from other cities and provinces processed in Chungnam over the past five years. Provided by Chungnam Province.

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