Household waste from Seoul is being hauled more than 130 kilometers to North Chungcheong Province. Since the capital region banned direct landfilling of household waste, local governments that failed to secure incineration capacity have come to rely on private incinerators in outlying provinces.
The Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment said on the 19th that the capital region generates 3.7 million tons of household waste in standard volume-rate bags each year, and the portion that can no longer go to landfills is flowing to private incinerators in the provinces following the full ban that took effect in January.
In the first half of this year, about 57,000 tons of household waste was shipped out of the capital region to North Chungcheong, South Chungcheong, Daejeon, North Gyeongsang and other areas. Local governments without incinerators of their own now routinely truck waste hundreds of kilometers to private facilities in the Chungcheong and Gangwon regions.
Cheongju in North Chungcheong Province has borne the brunt. Four private incineration operators in the Cheongju area signed contracts to process 26,428 tons of waste annually for Seoul's Gangnam District, the city of Gwangmyeong, Yangpyeong County, the city of Hwaseong and Ganghwa County in Gyeonggi Province. Through June, Cheongju handled about 13,900 tons of capital-region household waste, already exceeding last year's total intake.
On the 14th, the city of Cheongju signed an agreement with the four operators under which they will not bid for household waste processing contracts from capital-region local governments through the end of next year. In return, the city will help prioritize waste generated within its jurisdiction and allocate part of its public incinerator capacity to the operators.
Disposal Should Happen Where Waste Is Generated, but Bills Sit in the National Assembly
Cost is one reason provincial governments are pushing back harder. Disposal at the capital-region landfill costs 110,000 won per ton, while contracting with private operators runs 150,000 to 200,000 won per ton, up to twice as much.
Seoul city data show public incinerators charge an average of 131,000 won per ton, compared with 181,000 won at private facilities, 38% higher. Eunpyeong District budgeted 6.71 billion won for the purpose this year, up 37% from a year earlier. Seoul's Dobong, Nowon, Seodaemun and Yangcheon districts are also weighing when to sign private contracts.
Critics say the situation was a foreseeable, man-made problem. The direct landfill ban was confirmed in 2021 with a five-year grace period, but capital-region local governments effectively neglected to expand their own incineration capacity.
Seoul has four incinerators, in Gangnam, Mapo, Nowon and Yangcheon, but most are 20 to 30 years old or more. Several amendments to the Wastes Control Act that would strengthen the principle of disposing of waste where it is generated are pending in the National Assembly, but the timing of passage remains unclear.