"Reexamining Decommissioned Landfills... Government Tackles 'Fake Statistics' in Waste Greenhouse Gas Emissions"

Advancing the Verification of Basic Statistics in the Waste Sector

The government has begun a study to analyze historical data from decommissioned landfill sites and incorporate this information into regional greenhouse gas emission statistics. The initiative aims to systematically manage and utilize past landfill operational data to more accurately calculate greenhouse gas emissions generated during waste treatment processes.

According to government ministries on March 16, the Greenhouse Gas Inventory & Research Center of the Ministry of Climate, Energy, and Environment recently commissioned a project titled “Research on Advanced Methods for Verifying Basic Statistics in the Waste Sector.” The purpose of this project is to meticulously verify basic waste statistics and, based on this, establish a quality management system for both the national waste management system and greenhouse gas emission statistics.

In particular, the study will examine historical operational data from decommissioned landfill facilities and review ways to reflect these findings in the calculation of regional greenhouse gas emissions. Since landfill sites can emit greenhouse gases such as methane for an extended period even after closure, accurately identifying past landfill volumes and management records is considered a crucial variable in emission calculations.

This research appears to be linked to recent changes in waste landfill policy. Starting this year, direct landfilling of municipal solid waste at the Metropolitan Landfill Site is essentially prohibited, and discussions continue regarding securing alternative landfill sites and managing existing ones. The direct landfilling ban requires that municipal solid waste generated in the metropolitan area is not landfilled immediately, but only residue remaining after incineration or recycling is permitted for landfill. However, delays in expanding incineration facilities have led to real issues with insufficient processing capacity in some regions.

Metropolitan Landfill Site in Seo-gu, Incheon. Yonhap News Agency

The issue of data accuracy in the basic statistics for greenhouse gas emissions in the waste sector has also been cited as a reason for promoting this research. Due to the lack of certain activity data in the estimation process, there have been instances where reliance on estimates was necessary, highlighting the need to improve the reliability of the statistics. According to data submitted by the Greenhouse Gas Inventory & Research Center to Assemblyman Park Jeong of the National Assembly’s Climate, Energy, Environment, and Labor Committee, last year, only 142 out of 245 local governments nationwide submitted greenhouse gas emission statistics. As a result, a significant portion of the statistics is calculated based not on actual local government measurements but on estimates derived from central government administrative data.

The study will first analyze the current state of basic statistics related to waste in Korea and develop improvement plans for greenhouse gas statistics. The plan includes analyzing nationwide waste generation and treatment, sewerage statistics, and industrial wastewater generation and treatment data to review the definitions, compilation systems, quality management, and verification procedures for statistical items. The study will also assess consistency with international standards, including guidelines from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC).

Establishing a “mass balance” system that analyzes the entire process from waste generation to movement and treatment is also a key task. By creating material flow diagrams by waste type and treatment method, the research will systematically analyze the flow from generation to final disposal and use these results to verify greenhouse gas statistics. In addition, comparative analysis between waste statistics, renewable energy statistics, and the national energy balance will be pursued.

The Greenhouse Gas Inventory & Research Center stated, “By comparing the definitions and usage volumes of waste fuel, we will ensure consistency across statistics and enhance the reliability of national greenhouse gas statistics, thereby improving their usefulness for policy development.”

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