Gyeonggi Province to Recycle Discarded Banners and Agricultural Byproducts... Regulatory Exemption Approved

Gyeonggi Province is promoting plans to recycle discarded banners as raw materials for automotive interior and exterior components, and to reuse mushroom byproducts as bedding for livestock farms.

On May 18, Gyeonggi Province announced that two projects in the circular economy sector have received demonstration exemption approval from the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment through the "Regulatory Sandbox Customized Consulting Support" program.

The approved projects are: "Technology for Producing Recycled Fiber (Automotive Interior and Exterior Material) Using Discarded Banners," and "Development and Manufacture of Eco-Friendly Livestock Bedding Using Mushroom Substrate and Agricultural Byproducts After Harvest."

The technology for producing recycled fiber (automotive interior and exterior material) using discarded banners is a method of recycling discarded banners as raw materials for automotive interior and exterior components. Previously, a significant portion of discarded banners was incinerated or simply thrown away, increasing the environmental burden. However, this technology links discarded banners to the production of fiber products, thereby enhancing resource circulation potential. With this demonstration exemption approval, comprehensive waste recycling operations under the Waste Management Act will be temporarily permitted, and the application of certain legal provisions to some recycling processes will also be suspended.

Recruitment Poster for Companies Participating in Gyeonggi-do Regulatory Sandbox Customized Consulting

The "Development and Manufacture of Eco-Friendly Livestock Bedding Using Mushroom Substrate and Agricultural Byproducts After Harvest" project involves reprocessing leftover mushroom substrate and agricultural byproducts after harvest into circular resources such as livestock bedding and mushroom substrate raw materials. Currently, under the Waste Management Act, the types of mushroom substrate that can be recycled are limited, and local ordinances prohibit bringing agricultural byproducts into waste treatment facilities, making such business operations impossible. However, these restrictions will be lifted during the demonstration period.

Kim Baek-sik, Director of Regulatory Reform in Gyeonggi Province, stated, "This achievement is an example of how regulatory sandbox consulting has connected companies' ideas to actual demonstration exemption approvals," and added, "We will continue to provide on-site support to ensure that small and medium-sized enterprises in the province do not have to halt innovation due to regulations."

The regulatory sandbox is a system that grants exemptions or suspensions from existing regulations under certain conditions for new products and services utilizing innovative technologies.

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