Environment Minister: "Repurposing Closed Landfill Sites as Community Spaces for Local Residents"

Han Hwa-jin, Minister of Environment, visited the construction site of the park golf course being developed on the upper land of the Baekseok landfill in Cheonan on the afternoon of the 26th to hear on-site opinions on utilizing the upper land of the closed landfill as a leisure space for local residents.

This visit was arranged as a follow-up measure in response to the proposal to expand the use of land from closed landfills, which was raised at the public livelihood discussion presided over by President Yoon Seok-yeol on the 21st.

Minister of Environment Han Hwa-jin is responding to questions from lawmakers at the Environment and Labor Committee plenary session held at the National Assembly on the 16th. Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

The current Waste Management Act stipulates that the upper land of closed landfills should be utilized as parks, sports facilities, cultural facilities, renewable energy facilities, etc., but the actual utilization rate is low, at around 23%.

Accordingly, the Ministry of Environment plans to investigate the current status of the use of upper land of closed landfills nationwide and the reasons for the low utilization rate, and to revise related systems to further activate the use of landfill upper land.

In addition, the ministry will also promote expanding the types of facilities allowed on the upper land beyond those specified in the current law, including parking lots, storage yards, and waste sorting facilities.

Minister Han stated, “If there are no environmental or safety issues, we will enable the upper land of closed landfills to be utilized as local cultural and industrial facilities (infrastructure),” adding, “We will also cooperate to ensure that the ongoing park golf course development projects at Samsan and Yeocheon landfills in Ulsan can proceed through consultations among relevant departments.”

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