Aroot: "Subsidiary to Benefit from Metropolitan Area Waste Direct Landfill Ban"

On December 8, Aroot announced that its subsidiary, Aroot Eco, is expected to directly benefit from the “Metropolitan Area Waste Direct Landfill Ban Policy” set to take effect next year. With the implementation of the policy, demand for sorting and recycling through specialized companies is expected to surge, accelerating Aroot Eco’s performance growth.

Starting in 2026, direct landfill of municipal solid waste will be completely banned in the metropolitan area, including Seoul, Gyeonggi, and Incheon. The system will shift so that only residual waste, after mandatory separation, sorting, and recycling, can be landfilled. Various recyclable items such as plastics, vinyl, metals, and glass will be systematically sorted and processed. As a result, Aroot Eco is expected to secure a stable volume of waste to process.

Aroot Eco owns its first resource circulation plant in Seosan, South Chungcheong Province, covering approximately 20,000 square meters (6,200 pyeong), which can process around 75,000 tons of waste plastic annually. This facility not only features Asia’s most advanced automated recycling equipment, but also boasts excellent geographic accessibility to the metropolitan area, giving it a competitive advantage in effectively absorbing the increased waste processing demand driven by policy changes.

Aroot Eco produces solid recovered fuel (SRF) by sorting and recycling waste generated by major industrial clients such as KCC, Hyundai Wia, and Sajo Dong-A One. This SRF is supplied to well-known domestic cement companies. With the direct landfill ban in the metropolitan area taking full effect, it is expected that municipalities in Seoul and Gyeonggi will increase their use of private incineration and recycling facilities. The company explained that, with its large-scale facility in Seosan, Aroot Eco is poised to emerge as the biggest beneficiary.

An Aroot representative stated, “Once the direct landfill ban on metropolitan area waste is implemented, all household waste will be required to go through mandatory sorting and recycling processes, enabling us to secure stable volumes while significantly improving cost efficiency.” He added, “As we expand from focusing on industrial waste to also processing high-quality household waste, both our revenue and profitability are expected to improve substantially going forward.”

He continued, “The recycling industry has high entry barriers due to stringent government permits, massive facility investments, and the operational know-how required for stable operations. Taking this policy shift as an opportunity, Aroot Eco is also actively considering expanding facilities on idle land.”

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