[Initial Insight] Mayor Park Namchun's 'Resource Circulation' Initiatives

by Park Haesook

Published 12 Nov.2020 11:59(KST)

In front of the city hall plaza, Park Nam-chun, Mayor of Incheon, is announcing the 'Citizen Joint Action for a Major Shift in Resource Circulation Policy,' focusing on the termination of the use of the metropolitan landfill site by 2025. 2020.10.15 [Photo by Incheon City]

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Hyesook] The waste management policy of Incheon Mayor Park Namchun, who declared that "only Incheon's waste will be processed in Incheon," is accelerating. On the 15th of last month, during 'Incheon Citizens' Day,' Mayor Park declared 'Incheon’s Waste Independence,' announcing the termination of the use of the Sudokwon Landfill Site (Baekseok-dong, Seo-gu, Incheon) by 2025. He warned Seoul and Gyeonggi Province not to rely on Incheon’s land any longer, as Incheon citizens have suffered for 28 years by processing waste from Seoul and Gyeonggi Province.

He immediately sent official letters to 64 basic local governments in the metropolitan area, urging them to independently prepare waste management measures. This clearly demonstrated Incheon’s determination not to let the previously declared 'end of Sudokwon Landfill Site use' remain merely symbolic. Recently, Incheon also announced plans to establish its own landfill site, tentatively named 'Incheon Eco Land.' Incheon must first stop using the current landfill by 2025, which will prevent Seoul and Gyeonggi Province from using it as well, so it is necessary to quickly expand Incheon’s own waste treatment facilities.

While the current Sudokwon Landfill Site uses a 'direct landfill' method that buries both household and industrial waste, Incheon Eco Land will only landfill incineration ash and non-combustible waste generated after incinerating household waste. Incheon expects an average daily intake of 161 tons (about 8 trucks of 20 tons each), which is about 7.4% of the daily household waste intake at the Sudokwon Landfill Site. However, to achieve this, reducing household waste and increasing recycling rates are urgent priorities.

The city has designated two autonomous districts as pilot areas for household waste recycling collection and discharge, encouraging proper separation mainly in single-family homes and commercial establishments. Starting with three autonomous districts, the distribution of household food waste reduction devices will also increase. Sewage sludge will be recycled as a cement substitute raw material, incineration ash will be reused as reclamation soil for shared water surfaces, and 5,604 tons of coffee grounds generated annually will be recycled into pencils, flowerpots, and decorative bricks. From next year, the city plans to ban single-use items in public offices in Incheon and expand this ban to the private sector by 2022.

Resource circulation policies aimed at reducing waste and increasing recycling rates are not just an issue for Incheon. The Ministry of Environment is pushing for legal amendments that will prohibit direct landfill of household waste starting in 2030, along with formalizing waste processing principles at the source in each city and province. This means all regions nationwide must establish eco-friendly resource circulation policies. However, Incheon has become a more notable local government in waste policy due to the issue of ending the use of the Sudokwon Landfill Site. It has become a pioneer in boldly improving nearly 30 years of backward landfill-centered waste policies and pursuing a major paradigm shift toward eco-friendly resource circulation.

The problem is the practical challenge of where to build the core projects of the resource circulation policy: Incheon Eco Land and the metropolitan incineration plant. The candidate site for Eco Land was decided to be a piece of land on Yeongheungdo owned by a company that applied earlier this month, but some Yeongheungdo residents are determined to block it at all costs. Residents of candidate areas for the regional metropolitan incineration plant, which would be used jointly by 2-3 counties or districts, are also opposing it, with even members of the National Assembly opposing the construction of incineration plants in their constituencies. Although Incheon warned metropolitan local governments that it would close the Sudokwon Landfill Site by 2025, Incheon itself is facing severe internal conflicts that it must resolve.

However, Mayor Park must have anticipated this when declaring the end of the Sudokwon Landfill Site use, and thus it is also his responsibility to persuade the opposing residents. "The eco-friendly self-landfill and incineration plant projects are burdensome for a mayor facing an election, but they are necessary for the future. I will do what must be done." This is why Mayor Park, who has taken a more decisive stance on waste issues than any previous Incheon mayor, must continue this course to the end.