Pyeongtaek City "Plans for 1,025t/day Waste Landfill and Incineration Facility"

80만㎡ Area in Hyeondeok-myeon Daean and Gisan-ri
"1.1 Trillion Won Invested... Operation for 32 Years Starting 2031"

Pyeongtaek City in Gyeonggi Province is promoting the construction of waste landfill and incineration facilities with a daily processing capacity of 1,025 tons.

On the 4th, Pyeongtaek City announced through an online briefing, "To ensure stable processing of household and industrial waste, which has reached saturation due to population growth, we have decided to expand new waste incineration and landfill facilities by 2030."

Lee Kang-hee, Director of the Environmental Bureau of Pyeongtaek City, is announcing the plan to build a new waste treatment facility during an online briefing on the 4th.
[Photo by Pyeongtaek City]

Construction of 475t Landfill and 550t Incineration Facilities per Day in Daean-ri and Gisan-ri, Hyeondeok-myeon Area

The city revealed specific candidate sites on the same day. The target area is 800,000㎡ around Daean-ri and Gisan-ri in Hyeondeok-myeon. The city plans to build a total processing facility of 1,025 tons here, including an incineration facility with a daily capacity of 550 tons and a landfill facility with 475 tons. The incineration facility will process 250 tons of household waste and 300 tons of industrial waste per day. The landfill facility is designed to handle 175 tons of household waste and 300 tons of industrial waste.

The project will involve a total budget of 1.1 trillion KRW. Considering financial conditions, the city plans to proceed with the processing facilities as a private investment project.

Lee Kang-hee, Director of the Environment Bureau of Pyeongtaek City, stated, "The existing waste processing facility, Pyeongtaek Eco Center, has a daily household waste processing capacity of 250 tons, but the average inflow reaches 270 tons. With the population increasing and the direct landfill of household waste being banned from 2026, the amount of waste to be processed is expected to surge."

The city aims to start construction as early as 2028 after going through procedures such as resident briefings, feasibility studies of candidate sites, and land compensation, with completion targeted for 2030. The operation period of the processing facilities is planned to be 32 years, from 2031 to 2063.

Director Lee explained, "The project will proceed only with residents' consent. To this end, a site selection committee consisting of resident representatives, local council members, and experts will be formed to decide the project site."

1 Trillion KRW Invested to Create Resident Facilities, Sports, and Leisure Facilities

A waste treatment facility plan in the area of Hyeondeok-myeon, disclosed by Pyeongtaek City in a briefing on the 4th. [Image source=Pyeongtaek City]

The city plans to structurally block environmental issues related to the waste processing facilities. To this end, it intends to spend 458.4 billion KRW, which is 42% of the total project cost, to install a roof over the landfill facility to completely prevent leachate generation caused by rainfall.

For the landfill, only non-combustible materials such as incineration ash will be buried to minimize leachate generation within the waste, and an independent leachate treatment facility will be operated to prevent water pollution.

Incentive plans for local residents were also presented. First, about 100 billion KRW will be invested to create facilities requested by residents such as jjimjilbang (Korean sauna), sports facilities like swimming pools and soccer fields, and tourism leisure facilities such as campgrounds. The resident convenience facilities will be utilized as tourism, education, and cultural infrastructure linked to the nearby Pyeongtaekho Tourist Complex and Maansan development plan.

Additionally, a resident support fund will be established using up to 20% of the waste import fees. According to the city, this fund will be used to increase income, improve welfare, and support educational projects for nearby residents. Furthermore, the city added that it plans to promote local development projects by receiving regional development funds from private operators.

Controversy Over Unilateral Candidate Site Selection Instead of Public Contest

However, this waste processing facility plan is expected to cause controversy because the city unilaterally selected the candidate site without the usual public contest procedure. Generally, candidate sites for resident-disfavored facilities such as waste incinerators or funeral facilities have been solicited from local residents.

Because of this, Pyeongtaek City's waste processing facility promotion has already faced considerable opposition. In fact, as the facility construction plan became known, residents and civic groups in the Hyeondeok-myeon area recently held a press conference demanding the city withdraw the unilateral promotion.

In response, Director Lee stated, "Selecting the optimal candidate site through a service contract instead of a public contest is a matter of choosing the project method." He also added, "If residents do not agree, it will be difficult to proceed with the project itself. In that case, a second candidate site may be considered."

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