The only thing I’d like to ask a politician targeting the next mayor of Seoul: How is he going to get rid of his garbage?

Even before the 2020 U.S. presidential election fever has subsided, another election fever is on the Korean peninsula. This is due to the by-election of the mayors of Seoul and Busan held in April next year. The story of the ‘mini-presidential elections’ arises when the two heads of regional organizations with the most powerful authority are selected simultaneously. As the ruling Democratic Party of Korea recently revised its constitution and decided to run in by-elections, the board grew even larger.

Seoul is the representative city of Korea with a population of approximately 9.7 million. The mayor of Seoul, who is in charge of living here, is a shortcut to the next presidential power and a position that should display the most advanced political power. It is full of problems that cannot be neglected, such as economic growth, social integration, job creation, and housing stability. Therefore, this topic, which is mentioned from now on, will surely be a relatively minor concern. However, it is a subject that needs to be addressed at least once, as it will one day come before our eyes.

HuffPost Korea asks a politician who wants to become the next mayor of Seoul. The problem of household waste in Seoul, how are you going to end it?

By 2025, Seoul’s garbage will have nowhere to go.

Have you ever wondered where the household waste (garbage) that I put in front of my house goes? The answer is simple. The garbage that is bound in the bag based on volume is buried in the ground (reclaimed) or burned (incinerated).

More than half of the household and construction waste generated in the Seoul, Gyeonggi and Incheon metropolitan areas is sent to the metropolitan area waste dump in Seo-gu, Incheon. It is also the largest landfill in the world, with an average of more than 9000 tons of trash buried per day.

Incheon City officially declared that it will no longer receive garbage after using Seoul Metropolitan Area Landfill Zone 3-1 in 2025. It means that other municipalities will no longer dispose of waste. The three local governments have used the metropolitan landfill on several occasions, but the city of Incheon is in a strong position that it can no longer be expanded.

On the 12th, Incheon Mayor Park Nam-chun announced a candidate site for ending the use of the Seoul Metropolitan Area Landfill. Gyeonggi-do is relatively laid back with a lot of ground to replace. However, the situation is different in Seoul. There are practically no alternative sites. To make matters worse, the incinerator in central Seoul is already saturated.

Falling for the ‘zero carbon emissions by 2050’ statement

Recently, the city of Seoul announced a plan that it would pursue a ‘Green New Deal’ investing 2.6 trillion won by 2022. Zero carbon emissions by 2050 through various methods such as the implementation of the ‘Total Gas System Greenhouse for Buildings’, which limits the emission of greenhouse gases in public buildings with a gross area of ​​1000㎡ or more, the total replacement of electric vehicles and hydrogen vehicles in public vehicles, buses and taxis in Seoul. It is to make a city.

However, especially when it comes to garbage removal, there is a question mark. As for Seoul’s roadmap, it says: ″ We will reduce waste generation at source and achieve zero direct landfill of household waste by 2025 through a ‘circular economy’, ”but it does not contain concrete action plans.

It is the only thing that will increase the number of incinerators to ‘zero direct landfills by 2025’. Seoul is also in a position to expand the resource recycling facility (incineration plant), but does not say specifically where and how long it will be built. Since the incineration and waste landfill site is the highest rated hate facility, it is because it has to endure fierce civil grievances and aftermath just by being mentioned as a candidate site.

In a telephone interview with HuffPost Korea, director of the Resource Recycling Research Institute, Soo-Yeol, “Currently, about 20% of household waste is buried in the metropolitan area and the rest is construction waste. It is a serious problem that could hurt the entire industry if it is canceled in 2025. ”“ The Daum mayor of Seoul should definitely negotiate this issue with the city of Incheon. The city of Incheon has already said that it will be discontinued since 2015, but if you ask what it has done in Seoul, you won’t have much to say. If so, you should be able to say what you plan to do in the future. “

Eco-friendly, not a good buzz, but it’s a matter of survival

Respect for the environment is now a matter of survival beyond the political agenda favored by progressives. Even without mentioning microplastics and climate change, the environment affects our lives more closely and broadly. An example is the ‘garbage crisis’ that followed China’s 2018 waste import ban. At the time, many people were psychologically shocked by the crisis of stopping the collection of vinyl and mixed plastic waste in the area. metropolitan at that time.

It is a well known fact that Korea uses a lot of plastic. According to the announcement of the Bureau of Statistics in 2016, the annual consumption of plastic by country per person exceeded Japan (66.9 kg), France (73 kg) and the United States (97.7 kg), and Korea ranked first place (98.2 kg). According to the Korea Circulation Resource Distribution Center, etc., the annual consumption of plastic packaging in Korea was 64.12 kg in 2017, which is higher than that of the US (50.44 kg) and China (26.73 kg). In particular, this year, the use of plastic has increased compared to before, as food delivery and delivery have increased due to the prolonged corona effect 19.

In the past, waste plastics that could not be treated domestically were exported abroad, but now it is also difficult. The Basel Convention, revised in 2019, requires obtaining the prior consent of the importing country when exporting plastic waste that is difficult to recycle. This was taken when the problem of illegal garbage leakage to Southeast Asia, such as the Philippines and Vietnam, worsened.

US President-elect Joe Biden of the Democratic Party announced that he would rejoin the Paris Climate Accord immediately after taking office next year and then implement an active green policy. The EU (European Union) will completely ban the use of 10 disposable plastic products such as straws, cotton swabs and plates starting next year. Even if Korea starts now, it is quite late.

Separate collection for recycling, let’s have quality and courtesy

The government and the city of Seoul are not getting their hands on the garbage issue. In 2018, when there was a garbage crisis, the city of Seoul aimed to reduce the use of disposable plastics such as cups, straws and plastic bags by 50% by 2022. Recently, the city of Seoul formed a public-private partnership to scale to solve the problem of plastic abuse and is also implementing a pilot project to separate and dispose of transparent waste PET bottles for some autonomous districts.

In addition, the Environment Ministry has announced a legislative amendment to the ‘Rules on Standards for Packaging Materials and Product Packaging Methods’, which prohibits the placement of disposable plastic straws in beverage products from next year. The straws are representative plastics that cannot be recycled and are manufactured solely for human convenience.

Of course, it is not possible to leave the problem of garbage only in the hands of the government and local heads of government. On an individual level, you also need to make Zero-Waste (a move to minimize waste) a daily routine and further separate and dispose of recyclables. Korean people are known to be good at separating collection around the world, but according to director Flood-Yeol’s recently released ‘That’s Not Trash’, if at least 30% of the recyclables enter the sorting facility, 70% will be disposed of as garbage.

Dr Hong said: “Improving the quality of recycled products is critical. In fact, what we do at home is separate discharge, and then separate collection is done by people at the sorting plant for recycling. It’s also a reason to be polite when throwing away the garbage. “

Guide to Separation Harvesting in the Age of the Peel Environment

-Rubbish that pretends to be recyclable

△ Melanin bowl and commercial wrap

△ Cell phone and glasses case

△ Plastic toys

△ Pens, toothbrushes, straws: small in volume and practically eliminated during recycling.

△ Pump type cap for shampoo or detergent: It is difficult to recycle because it has an iron spring inside.

△ Eco-friendly paper ice pack: recycling is not easy due to the inner liner treatment.

△ Tteokbokki / cup ramen container, potato chip container: It is difficult to clean the inside, so it is not recycled.

△ Colored Styrofoam: The color of the raw material becomes cloudy and is removed during the recycling process.

* Note: Flood heat, ‘That’s not garbage’

Kim Im-soo Editor: [email protected]