Current Status of Waste Disposal
Status of Waste Disposal
In the case of municipal wastes, the implementation of the “Volume-based Waste Fee System” has promoted waste separation and significantly increased recycling, but on the other hand, the rate of incineration has gradually been on the rise. The recycling rate has shown a steady increase to 57.8% in 2007. The rate of incineration has also increased to 18.6% in 2007 from 11.7 % in 2000, whereas landfilling has continued to decline to 23.6 % in 2007.
| Classification | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Generation | 46,438 | 48,499 | 49,902 | 50,736 | 50,007 | 48,398 | 48,844 | 50,346 |
| Landfilling | 21,831(47.0) | 21,000(43.3) | 20,724(41.5) | 20,450(40.3) | 18,195(36.4) | 13,402(27.7) | 12,601(25.8) | 11,882(23.6) |
| Incineration | 5,441(11.7) | 6,577(13.6) | 7,229(14.5) | 7,348(14.5) | 7,224(14.4) | 7,753(16.0) | 8,321(17.0) | 9,348(18.6) |
| Recycling | 19,166(41.3) | 20,922(43.1) | 21,949(44.0) | 21,938(45.2) | 24,588(49.2) | 27,243(56.3) | 27,922(57.2) | 29,116(57.8) |
The separation of food wastes from other wastes has been in place since direct landfilling was banned in January 2005. For this reason, while food waste generation has been on the rise, the rate of recycling food waste as livestock feed and compost is at 92% as of 2007.
| Classification | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Generation | 11,434 | 11,237 | 11,397 | 11,398 | 11,464 | 12,977 | 13,327 | 14,452 |
| Landfilling | 5,185(45) | 3,856(34) | 3,345(29) | 2,836(25) | 1,607(14) | 356(3) | 261(2) | 451(3) |
| Incineration | 1,088(10) | 1,003(9) | 922(8) | 844(7) | 541(5) | 516(4) | 508(4) | 674((5) |
| Recycling | 5,161(45) | 6,378(57) | 7,130(63) | 7,718(68) | 9,316(81) | 12,105(93) | 12,603(94) | 13,327(92) |
The rate of recycling industrial wastes has been on the rise. As of 2007, of industrial wastes, 84.2% were recycled, 9.4% went to landfills, 3.4% were incinerated and 3.0% were dumped at sea, etc. In the case of industrial wastes and construction waste, their recycling rates are very high at 66.9% and 97.5%, respectively, because they are mostly single material items that can be recycled with ease. But they show low incineration rates of 6.5% and 0.7%, respectively.
| Classification | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Total | 187,845 | 212,533 | 227,631 | 252,293 | 261,659 | 255,959 | 280,110 | 296,323 |
| Landfilling | 29,904(15.9) | 32,677(15.4) | 34,303(15.1) | 29,377(11.6) | 26,043(10.0) | 21,632(8.5) | 14,646(5.2) | 27,794(9.4) |
| Incineration | 11,732(6.2) | 12,106(5.7) | 10,893(4.8) | 11,338(4.5) | 11,341(4.3) | 9,669(3.8) | 10,693(3.8) | 10,211(3.4) |
| Recycling | 138,031(73.5) | 158,841(74.7) | 172,323(75.7) | 200,830(79.6) | 212,728(81.3) | 212,681(83.1) | 244,131(87.2) | 249,576(84.2) |
| Others (Dumping at sea, etc.) |
8,178(4.4) | 8,909(4.2) | 10,112(4.4) | 10,748(4.3) | 11,547(4.4) | 11,977(4.6) | 10,640(3.8) | 8,742(3.0) |
