Direct Landfill Ban on Food Waste Starting Next Year

Starting from 2005, Gyeonggi Province will ban direct landfill disposal of food waste for local governments at the city level and above throughout the province, as leachate and odor generated from food waste have caused environmental destruction including soil contamination.

According to the province on the 18th, an average of 2,315 tons of food waste is generated daily in the province, including 147 tons per day from Suwon city last year.

Of this amount, 1,787 tons (77%) are separated and collected to be recycled into animal feed or compost at food waste resource recovery facilities, 309 tons (14%) are collected as mixed waste and incinerated, and the remaining 209 tons (9%) are directly landfilled.

Of the 209 tons directly landfilled, approximately 200 tons are generated by local governments at the city level and above in the province, resulting in serious environmental destruction such as soil contamination.

Accordingly, the province plans to gradually expand the mandatory separation and collection starting this year, and from next year, implement comprehensive separation and collection while entrusting processing to 14 private facilities in a distributed manner.

Additionally, after constructing 4 food waste resource recovery facilities (daily processing capacity of 265 tons) with an investment of 9.128 billion won this year, the province plans to invest 13.5 billion won next year to establish 2 public processing facilities in Gimpo (70 tons) and Paju (80 tons).

Furthermore, the province has designated the first Wednesday of each week as "Food Waste-Free Day" for mass meal service providers to continue efforts to reduce food waste, and has already signed "voluntary agreements for food waste reduction" with 25 city and county government heads to implement reduction campaigns.

Meanwhile, the province currently operates 16 public food waste processing facilities (930 tons) and 82 private processing facilities (2,631 tons).