J Mater Cycles Waste Manag
DOI 10.1007/s10163-014-0301-7
SPECIAL FEATURE: REVIEW
Past, present and future of waste management in Korea
Won-Seok Yang • Jun-Kyung Park •
Se-Won Park • Yong-Chil Seo
Received: 28 May 2014 / Accepted: 5 August 2014
Ó Springer Japan 2014
Abstract In the history of waste management in Korea,
systematic and integrated management started in the mid-
dle of the 1980s with the establishment of the Waste
Management Law. By enforcing several specialized, dis-
crete acts under this basic law and imposing extended
producer responsibility as well as a volume-based garbage
rate system based on the concept of polluter payment,
waste management has become more effective for both
general household waste and industrial hazardous/massive
waste. The management mainly involves not only a
reduction in waste generation, but also appropriate treat-
ment and maximum recycling of the waste. Recent policy
trends have focused on converting wastes into resources,
and these have led to the implementation of ‘‘waste to
energy and resources’’ and a ‘‘sustainable and circulation
society’’ in the present and future plans for waste man-
agement. A new law called ‘‘Promotion Law for Achieving
a Resource Circulation Society’’ meant to replace the basic
law and to create a platform of resource circulation, is
currently under review. This law integrates all the existing
laws and acts to utilize waste more efficiently as a resource,
and it has the potential to significantly reduce the amount
of wastes landfilled. Details of the history and background
of previous waste management efforts, recent movements
and current status, and future pathways for achieving a
resource circulation society are introduced. This could
promote the establishment of a zero waste society and also
extend the life of waste landfill facilities in Korea.
W.-S. Yang
J.-K. Park
S.-W. Park
Y.-C. Seo (&)
Department of Environmental Engineering, Yonsei University,
1 Yonseidae-gil, Wonju, Gangwon 220-710, S. Korea
e-mail: seoyc@yonsei.ac.kr
1st 3R International Scientific Conference (3RINCs 2014)
Keywords Waste
Management
Laws
History

Resource circulation society
EPR
Korea
History of waste management with legal systems
Waste management in the past and present and for the
future has been changed through environmental issues and
concepts of waste at certain periods, represented by such
keywords as cleaning, pollution protection, producer
responsibility, resources, and renewable energy in Korea.
Various laws and acts have been enacted in waste man-
agement, based on such issues in history, since waste
management legislation began in the 1960s. The biggest
changes in the management of waste depend on the waste
classification and the application of effective systems of
waste management. Changes in the classification of waste
has produced several efficient results such as an increase in
the recycling rate, an ease in handling each waste stream,
and a decrease in treatment costs. Figure 1 shows the his-
tory of waste management legislation applied to major
systems from the 1960s to the present [1]. Until the Waste
Management Law came into effect in December, 1986, the
Filth and Cleaning Law (1973) and the Environmental
Protection Law (1963) had regulated general waste and
industrial waste, respectively, in Korea.
From 1961 to 1977, these two laws were the main legal
provisions for waste management. The Environmental
Pollution Law aimed at reducing the environmental impact
of waste. The Filth and Cleaning Law focused on the
treatment of household waste generated in urban areas as a
passive concept, including separate management by the
classification of a specialized cleaning area and seasonal
cleaning area and the prohibition of open waste dumping.
After 1978, when environmental problems had been
123

Fig. 1 History of legislation for waste management in Korea
accepted as an important social concern, the government
enacted an environmental law and established an environ-
mental organization (Environmental Protection Agency),
and the Environmental Protection Law (1978) began to
regulate industrial hazardous waste. In particular, since
vinyl waste in rural areas had become a social problem, the
Synthetic Resin Waste Management Act was enacted, and
the Environmental Resource Recycling Corporation was
founded. In 1986, the Waste Management Law was
established by merging the Filth Cleaning Law and the
Environmental Protection Law to integrate different waste
management systems into one. Enforcement under the
Waste Management Law was considered to be the starting
point of regulating all waste streams in a more systematic
manner by applying basic principles such as reducing,
recycling, treatment, and disposal, and by utilizing all the
related practices of waste management. The law also
contained a new classification of wastes, including a
deposit-refund system and a landfill post-closure manage-
ment system, and it promoted schemes for recycling and
resource saving [2].
Since the establishment of the Waste Management Law,
which controlled both general and industrial wastes, it has
played a role up to the present day as the main basic legal
foundation of practicing more systematic and integrated
waste management. The law has covered all the waste
streams, including municipal and industrial wastes, man-
ure, construction/demolition waste, and infectious waste.
Over the years of implementing the law, several special-
ized acts were established to handle certain streams of
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J Mater Cycles Waste Manag
waste and to promote better management by utilizing
special systems. Manure waste was regulated by another
law called the Act on Treatment of Livestock Manure,
Wastewater and Sewage, enacted in 1991. Due to Korea’s
signing of the Basel Convention, an act on waste migration
among countries was enacted in 1992. The legislation
considering wastes as resources is the Act on Resource
Saving and Recycling Promotion, enforced at the begin-
ning of 1992. Based on this act, the polluter (producer)
payment concept was introduced to implement a volume-
based garbage rate system and an extended producer
responsibility (EPR) system. The act, Waste Treatment
Facility Promotion and Support of the Surrounding Area,
became a legal basis of support for people living around
facilities in order to avoid any NIMBY (not in my back
yard) issues. Around the middle of the 1990s, the concept
of ‘‘payment by polluters’’ was more actively adopted in all
environmental management systems in Korea, and the law
was again revised. The classification of waste was changed
to household waste and industrial waste from a collection
point of view. For treatment appropriations, some indus-
trial nonhazardous wastes were classified into two cate-
gories, i.e., general waste, which can be treated along with
household waste, and hazardous waste (designated waste),
which needs specific care and handling. Industrial wastes
included both construction/demolition waste and infectious
waste for further treatment by the most effective means.
Figure 2 shows the changes in the classification of waste
according to generation streams and treatment perspectives
in Korea. Another big movement in waste treatment
J Mater Cycles Waste Manag
Section ~ 1991
Domestic General Waste
( ) ( )
General
Waste
( )
Industrial
Industrial Waste
( ) ( )
Specified
Waste
( )
Fig. 2 Changes in waste classification in Korea
systems was the volume-based garbage rate system for
household waste, which uses the concept of polluter pay-
ment; i.e., each household buys garbage bags at a super-
market and discharges general waste using the prepaid bag.
This system has worked out well in local communities, and
the generation of general waste has been reduced signifi-
cantly. By the same concept, the EPR system was adopted
to reduce the generation of industrial waste, especially for
massive production items, through the law-reducing waste
electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE), entitled the
Resource Circulation Act of Electric & Electronic Products
and Automobiles. The items under the EPR have been
expanded, and implementation has been very effective [3].
Recent issues in waste management involved the
strengthening and establishment of a RCS after this
movement of RCS commenced in 2003. The RCS could be
accomplished by converting the concept of ‘‘waste’’ into
‘‘resource’’ and modifying 3R (reduce, reuse, and recycle)
activities. In 2005, the Act on Construction/demolition
Waste was enacted, and the Resource Circulation Act of
Electric & Electronic Products and Automobiles was also
enacted in 2008 due to this movement. A national com-
prehensive plan on converting waste to energy was
announced in 2008. Waste was no longer considered as
waste, but it was, rather, regarded as a resource with the
establishment of the RCS. For example, refuse-derived
fuel plants and biogas plants were installed for converting
waste and biomass into energy. Also, urban mining had
become an issue, and the plan for urban mining was
established in 2009. Another strategy was the introduction
of the recovery of energy into the existing 3R, which then
became 4R (reduce, reuse, recycle, and recovery). In order
to promote the establishment of a RCS, the government
has suggested a new law, named the Promotion Law for
Achieving a RCS, which integrates all the laws and sep-
arate specialized acts to serve as a platform that manages
all waste flows with circulating patterns of materials, with
a target of zero waste for landfills [4].
1991 ~ 1995 1996
General Waste Household Waste
( ) ( )
General
Waste
( )
Industrial
Construction
Waste
Waste
( )
( )
Hazardous
Specified Waste
Waste
( )
( )
Based on the history of waste management in terms of
legislation, systems, and policies in Korea, the following
sections in this paper cover the current status of waste
management by showing an epochal change in the treat-
ment of waste over the last three decades as well as the
details of the main systematic activities performed as a part
of such waste management practices. The future policies
and plans for achieving a RCS with zero waste will also be
introduced.
Current status of waste management
Generation and treatment of wastes by streams
Table 1 shows the current status of the amount of waste
generation, the treatment methods with distribution rates,
and the main processing flows for each waste stream as of
2011. Recycling rates reach a high percentage, ranging
from 57 to 98 %, in all the waste streams; this increase is
led by the implementation of effective systems that
enhance and promote recycling, such as a volume-based
garbage rate system and EPR, to enhance and promote
recycling. In the case of the electric and electronic waste,
the rate of treatment could not be estimated due to the large
difference in rates between the products. The rate of
landfill is approximately 10–20 % for all the waste streams
and is less than that of recycling and incineration; this rate
is expected to gradually diminish due to very stringent
enforcement of future policies that prohibit landfill. For
domestic waste, the generation of waste is around 1 kg/day
per capita, for the total population of around 50 million.
Most construction/demolition waste is recycled at a rate
above 98 %. For end-of-life vehicles (ELVs), the recycling
rate is targeted at over 85 % by 2015 and will increase to
95 % after 2015; there will be extensive efforts to
accomplish this goal. The EPR system has also been
strongly implemented for dismantled electric and
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Table 1 Waste generation and major treatment methods with main processing flows for each waste stream (2011)
Waste streams Generation Disposal method Processing flow

Household waste 48,934 Landfill (17.2 %) /Incineration Domestic Waste ? Separating ? Loading of
tons/day (23.7 %) /Recycling (59.1 %) Waste ? Magnetic Separation and
Crushing ? Compression ? Packaging ? Landfill/
Incineration/Recycling [SRF]
Industrial waste 1,37,961 Landfill (16.7 %)/Incineration (6.0 %) / Produce ? Purchase and Use ? Large Size
tons/day Recycling (73.0 %) /Ocean disposal Waste ? Separating/Bartering ? Domestic
(4.3 %) waste ? Recycling/Landfill/Incineration
[Tracking System Applied]
Construction waste 186,417 Landfill (1.4 %) /Incineration (0.5 %) / Process of Manufacture ? Construction Waste ? Recycling/
tons/day Recycling(98.1 %) Disposal ? Landfill(Nonflammable)/
Incineration(Combustible)
[Tracking System Applied]
Hazardous 10,021 Landfill (18.7 %) /Incineration (18.2 %) Waste Oil ? Liquid(Recycling/Incineration), Solid(Incineration)
(designated) tons/day /Recycling (57.1 %) /Etc (6.1 %) Organic Solvent ? Liquid(Recycling),
waste Solid ? Liquid(Incineration) Paint ? Liquid(Recycling),
Solid ? Liquid(Incineration)
Pesticide ? Solid ? Liquid(Incineration) Sludge ? Landfill,
Toxic Waste ? Landfill, Asbestos ? Landfill
End-of-life 845,709 Recycling(about 80 %) /Landfill(about Manufacturer ? ELV(End of Life
vehicles (ELVs) cars/year 20 %) Vehicle) ? Breaking ? Crushing ? Recycling/Treatment of
Waste gas/Landfill [Monitored by EcoAS]
Electric electronic 728,538 Recycling/Reuse/Landfill /Incineration Product ? Plastic ? Incineration ? Electric
products (WEEE) tons/year (Treatment rates between products Wire ? Recycling of Metal ? Landfill ?
are varying) Remainder ? Grinding ? Landfill ? PCB ? Recycling of
Metal and Incineration [Monitored by EcoAS]

electronic products. For two streams of waste from ELVs
and WEEE, a specialized act for promoting the recycle rate
was established in 2008.
In Fig. 3, which shows the amount of wastes by years
from 1982 to 2011, waste generation in total has steadily
increased by about a factor of five, from 77,000 to
3,75,000 tons/day over the last 30 years. The other big
epochal changes in waste treatment methods are that the
recycling rate has jumped from under 10 % to over 80 %,
and the landfill rate has lowered from 90 % to less than
10 %. Such a significant change from poor management
with a high rate of landfill to advanced management in the
country has resulted from the stringent legislation
enforcement with an efficient system of implementation
over the years, the details of which are introduced in later
sections. According to the waste treatment report, the
fraction of waste in landfills decreased to less than 10 %,
and the recycling rate increased to over 80 % by 2012. As
mentioned earlier, the big change is that waste is now
considered a resource and has been much reduced by
applying a polluter payment concept such as a volume-
based garbage rate system, EPR, etc. The decrease in 1992
was attributed to the change in measuring methods from
volumetric ton to weight ton; the former was based not on
real waste weight but on an estimation of volume and the
number of garbage trucks in the past. In Tables 2, 3, 4, and
5, the generation of waste and the rates of treatment options
for different waste streams are summarized for the years in
which data are available. For household domestic waste,
the amount of generation increased in the 1980s and sud-
denly decreased in 1994, due to the change in measuring
method from volume-based weighing to a direct real
weight basis. Coal briquette ashes decreased because of an
expanded supply of clean fuels, resulting in decreasing
briquette consumption. Thus, the daily waste generation
per capita became 1 kg/day which has held steady from
1995 to the present. Between 1982 and 2010, the rate of
landfill decreased from 96 to 18 %, and the recycling rate
increased from 1.5 to 60 %, while the incineration rate
increased from 2 to 20 %. Such results have been produced
by changes in public consciousness promoting the fol-
lowing of the volume-based garbage rate system and by the
policy of the government to promote recycling and to
install more incinerators for combustible waste to recover
energy. In the case of industrial waste, the amount of
generation was 30,000 tons/day in 1982, and it increased to
1,40,000 tons/day in 2010, since industrial production has
grown with economic growth in the country. The rates of
major treatment methods such as landfill, incineration, and
recycling changed, respectively, from 82 to 17 %, from 1.4
to 5.8 %, and from 15 to 72 %, between 1982 and 2010.
The trend of such results is similar to the case of household
waste. For construction/demolition waste, the data from
1996 indicate an amount of generation of only 28,000 tons/

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Fig. 3 Waste generation and rate of treatment options (1982–2011)

day, but by 2010, the amount of waste increased by a factor Table 2 Generation and treatment of household waste
of more than six. One of the noticeable facts is that over
Year Generation Treatment (%)
98 % of construction/demolition waste is recycled, with (tons/day)
only around 1 % going to landfill at present, while about Landfill Incineration Recycling Other
40 % of this type of waste was landfilled before 1996. For 1982 48,000 96.5 2.0 1.4 0.0
hazardous waste, the amount of generation was sharply 1984 54,000 95.5 1.9 1.6 1.0
reduced in 1994 due to the change in classification of some
1986 61,000 94.7 2.3 2.2 0.7
plastic waste to a nonhazardous status, but then it steadily
1988 73,000 95.0 1.7 2.4 0.9
increased to around 10,000 tons/day. The rates of treatment
1990 84,000 93.0 1.8 4.6 0.6
options for this type of waste did not change much, with
1992 75,000 89.2 1.5 7.9 1.4
the rates of recycling, incineration, and landfill, respec-
1994 58,000 81.2 3.5 15.4 0.0
tively, at 50–60, 20, and 20 %. Ocean dumping has been
1996 50,000 68.3 5.5 26.2 0.0
prohibited since the year 2000; however, the fraction of
1998 45,000 56.2 8.8 34.9 0.0
ocean dumping for hazardous waste was as high as 20 % in
2000 46,000 47.0 11.7 41.3 0.0
certain years before then [5–9].
2002 50,000 41.5 14.5 44.0 0.0
2004 50,000 36.4 14.4 49.2 0.0
2006 49,000 25.8 17.0 57.2 0.0
Major effective activities in waste management
2008 52,000 20.3 19.9 59.8 0.0
Comprehensive master plans for waste management 2010 49,000 17.9 21.6 60.5 0.0

As explained in the first section, there were not just legal

system changes, but several comprehensive plans were
established to implement specific policies and systems in
the last two decades in Korea to achieve a more effective
management of waste. Table 6 shows the comprehensive
plans derived from waste management policy since the
1990s. The first plan was carried out to establish an eco-
nomic society with sustainable resource circulation. This
plan included four policies: a minimum of waste, waste to
resource, waste management, and construction of infra-
structure. The second plan had the objective of a zero waste
society with sustainable resource circulation. This plan
included six control schemes: effect, value, water, envi-
ronment, economy, and society. The waste to energy plan
aimed at converting 3.8 million tons of available waste to
energy in 2012. That included a targeted recovery and
utilization of 1.28 million Gcal/yr of heat from incinera-
tion and 0.3 million m3/day of landfill gas. The next sec-
tions describe the implementation of these comprehensive
plans through the laws and specialized acts and their major
effective activities and systems.

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Table 3 Generation and Year Generation (tons/day) Treatment (%)

treatment of industrial waste
Landfill Incineration Recycling Other Ocean dumping

1982 29,000 82.0 1.4 14.6 1.9 0.0

1984 31,000 66.1 3.7 30.3 0.0 0.0
1986 37,000 50.7 3.1 46.3 0.0 0.0
1988 51,000 21.3 14.3 47.5 16.9 0.0
1990 61,000 22.0 14.8 54.3 8.8 0.0
1992 48,000 41.8 1.8 56.4 0.0 0.0
1994 85,000 34.2 4.6 61.3 0.0 0.0
1996 97,000 25.5 5.8 68.7 0.0 0.0
1998 93,000 31.5 5.8 58.2 0.0 4.5
2000 102,000 18.7 7.9 66.5 0.0 6.9
2002 100,000 15.5 7.1 67.8 0.0 9.6
2004 105,000 13.0 6.7 69.7 0.0 10.6
2006 101,000 8.8 7.6 74.0 0.0 9.6
2008 131,000 18.6 5.3 70.8 0.0 5.3
2010 138,000 16.9 5.8 72.3 0.0 5.0

Volume-based garbage rate system and to separate and send out recycling products by imposing
a waste disposal cost. This system was enforced for muni-
A volume-based garbage rate system is a system developed cipal waste in January 1995. It was intended to establish a
to encourage a reduction in the amount of waste generated frugal lifestyle and to change patterns of consumption and
disposal, leading to a reduced amount of waste from the
Table 4 Generation and treatment of construction waste initial stage of its production, by charging fees according to
the quantity of waste produced. In order to motivate people
Year Generation (tons/day) Treatment (%)
to produce less waste by recycling as much as possible, the
Landfill Incineration Recycling volume-based waste fee is not charged for recycled wastes.
1996 28,000 38.7 3.0 58.4 Since the implementation of a volume-based garbage rate
1998 48,000 14.9 2.1 83.0 system and with the efforts and cooperation of citizens, the
2000 79,000 12.7 2.6 84.7 amount of waste has been reduced to a level equivalent to
2002 120,000 14.5 2.0 83.4
that in the developed world, and the amount of recyclable
2004 148,000 7.4 2.0 90.6
waste collected has been doubled. The amount of waste
generated per capita was reduced from 1.33 kg/day in 1994
2006 169,000 2.3 0.7 97.0
to 1.03 kg/day in 2004, according to the report that assessed
2008 176,000 1.7 0.8 97.5
the results of the volume-based garbage rate over 10 years,
2010 178,000 1.2 0.5 98.2
by the Ministry of Environment [1, 10].

Table 5 Generation and Year Generation (tons/day) Treatment (%)

treatment of hazardous waste
Landfill Incineration Recycling Ocean dumping Other

1992 21,400 29.0 12.8 47.4 10.7 0.0

1994 3,700 7.8 15.5 48.8 12.7 15.1
1996 5,200 13.5 7.3 46.4 22.1 10.8
1998 5,300 8.8 18.4 53.6 8.5 10.7
2000 7,600 12.1 21.4 50.3 6.5 9.7
2002 8,000 17.4 16.7 58.4 0.0 7.5
2004 8,200 17.4 16.5 61.1 0.0 4.9
2006 10,000 18.1 18.0 54.8 0.0 9.1
2008 9,600 22.2 18.2 56.5 0.0 3.1
2010 9,500 19.3 18.0 56.1 0.0 6.6

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Table 6 Comprehensive plans of waste management in Korea
Plan Period
First comprehensive plan of waste 1993–2001
management
Second comprehensive plan of waste 2002–2011
management
Comprehensive plan of waste to energy 2008–2012
Fig. 4 EPR system
Extended producer responsibility (EPR)
EPR was introduced to place the responsibility of recycling
on producers who determine structures and materials like
packaging industries. For the recycling of wastes from
products or packaging materials, EPR imposes a quota on
the manufacturer of the products that come in the pack-
aging materials. Figure 4 shows the structure of the EPR
system and some relationships between all the parties
concerned. If the quota is not complied with, a fine that is
greater than the cost of implementing proper recycling is
imposed upon the manufacturer [11]. EPR is basically
applicable to existing items such as cotton packs, glass
Policy
Minimum of waste: volume-rate garbage disposal system waste to resource:
deposit-refund and allotment system
Stable management of waste
Construction of infrastructure
Effect control: management of waste risk
Value control: waste to energy
Water control: reduction of waste
Environment control: advance of disposal facility and management system
Economy control: enhancing of international waste management
Society control: waste management promotion of customer orientation
3.8 million tons of available waste to energy in 2012
1.28 million Gcal/yr of remaining heat of incineration
0.3 million m3/day of landfill gas
bottles, tires, etc., under a deposit system; new items
including air conditioners, TVs, refrigerators, etc., were
added to the EPR list starting in 2003. In 2004, film-type
packaging materials and fluorescent lamps were also
introduced, and audio products and mobile communication
devices were added in 2005. Printers, copiers, and fac-
simile machines were added in 2006, and cosmetics were
added in 2007. In 2008, manganese batteries, alkaline
manganese batteries, and Ni-MH batteries were added.
EPR is currently being applied to a total of 24 item cate-
gories. Also, electric and electronic products are among
EPR items that have become subject to the Resource Cir-
culation Act of Electric and Electronic Products and
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Fig. 5 Structure of resource circulation act of electric and electronic products and automobiles
Fig. 6 4R Policy in Korea
Automobiles since 2008, as shown in Fig. 5. Preventive
management, such as restrictions on the use of hazardous
materials, has been strengthened [1, 12]. EPR policy con-
tributed to the recycling of 4.6 million tons of such wastes
during a span of four years by increasing the separate
collection and recycling facilities; this amounts to 1.7
trillion Korean Won (equivalent to 1.7 billion USD) of
economic value saved by reducing landfill and incineration
costs [13].
4Rs policy
Waste management systems are prioritized as follows:
maximum reduction, reuse, recycling, energy recovery
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(4Rs), incineration, and landfill. These priorities must be
considered in the production, consumption, and disposal,
related to life cycles of raw materials (see Fig. 6). In the
production step, the regulation of excessive packaging, the
use of reduced packaging, and a recommendation system for
refill products are adopted. In the consumption step, a vol-
ume-based garbage rate system and the control of used
disposable goods are practiced. Regarding packaging ves-
sels, lubricants, or home appliances, a deposit-refund system
is available for their recovery and recycling by the produc-
ers. In the disposal step, storing/transportation standards for
waste, installation standards, and a management standard for
waste treatment facilities are set up. Regulations and sys-
tems to enforce such 4R policies in terms of generating,
J Mater Cycles Waste Manag

Table 7 Regulations and systems to practice 4R policy in difference steps and waste streams
Section Waste treatment policy

Reduce Regulation of disposal goods Reduction of food waste

Regulation of exaggerated packaging
Waste allotment system
Reuse Management of recycling center
Deposit system of empty bottles
Recycle EPR system
Food waste to resource
Promotion of recycling industry
Promotion of recycling industrial waste
Energy recovery Expansion of waste to energy facility
Law carbon green village
Stable treatment Treatment of agriculture waste
Management of exportation and importation waste
Volume-rate garbage disposal system
Reduction system of industrial waste
Remanufacturing and reusing component
Forwarding of incentive system about electronic product and vehicle
Efficiency of collection system and separate collection recyclable waste
Development of waste to energy
Professional man power training (WtE)
Treatment of abandoned waste
Improvement of medical waste treatment

Fig. 7 System for establishing a resource circulation society

collecting, treating, and disposing of waste for different
waste sectors are summarized in Table 7.
Prospects and future of waste management
Accomplishing a resource circulation society
Accomplishing the best available management state could
be related to the establishment of a resource circulation
society (RCS). Figure 7 describes a sound processing flow
of materials, especially with respect to waste management.
One of the goals is achieving a total of zero waste land-
filled. The priority would be to reduce and recycle under
the 4R policy by utilizing all the available technologies to
circulate waste back into resources and energy. In
advanced countries such as Europe, waste disposal in
landfills is less than 1 %.
Today, among countries in the Organization for Eco-
nomic Cooperation and Development, South Korea’s
amount of waste generated per unit area is ranked fourth;
additional construction of landfill sites is no longer a

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Table 8 Projection and goals Section 2011 2017 2020

of waste generation and disposal
in future (unit: 1000 tons/year, Total Total generation 1,39,916 1,47,494 1,47,172
%)
Landfill 13,104/(9.4) 9,674/(6.6) 4,416/(3.0)
Incineration 8,291/(5.9) 11,634/(7.9) 15,453/(10.5)
Recycling 1,16,157/(83.0) 1,26,186/(85.5) 1,27,303/(86.5)
Ocean dumping 2,364/(2.7) – –
Domestic waste Total generation 17,861 18,052 18,166
Landfill 3,063/(17.1) 2,166/(12.0) 892/(4.9)
Incineration 4,235/(23.7) 4,152/(23.0) 5,103/(28.1)
Recycling 10,563/(59.1) 11,734/(65.0) 12,171/(67.0)
Ocean dumping – – –
Industrial waste Total generation 54,013 54,243 56,700
Landfill 9,093/(16.8) 6,455/(11.9) 2,656/(4.7)
Incineration 3,696/(6.8) 7,106/(13.1) 9,844/(17.4)
Recycling 38,860/(71.9) 40,682/(75.0) 44,200/(78.0)
Ocean dumping 2,364/(4.4) – –
Construction waste Total generation 68,042 75,199 72,306
Landfill 948/(1.4) 1,053/(1.4) 868/(1.2)
Incineration 360/(0.5) 376/(0.5) 506/(0.7)
Recycling 66,734/(98.1) 73,770/(98.1) 70,932/(98.1)
Ocean dumping – – –

reasonable option in such a small country. At the current
status, an industrial waste crisis could occur in Korea
within four years. Based on recent investigations, 56 % of
the waste that is being landfilled has the potential to be
recycled (including energy reduction), and it is possible to
reduce the cost of pollution prevention by about 101.1
billion Korean won through achieving zero landfill through
the reduction of such recyclable wastes. Thus, Korea has
set a goal to reach zero landfill by the year 2020. To
accomplish this target, the existing 4R policy will be
enforced by enhancing a higher mandatory recycle rate for
producers, improving the cooperative system for collecting
and recycling waste with local governments, and expand-
ing the items under the EPR system. For reducing the
amount of illegal processing of WEEE, a voluntary system
of collection without payment at the door after a call is
being initiated and expanded to all local areas this year.
Landfill costs in Korea are cheaper than recycling costs,
and thus, the extra cost in terms of incineration and landfill
taxes will be charged to the wastes that are landfilled or just
incinerated without any proper energy recovery, to reduce
the amount of landfilled waste. The installation of trading
centers for resource circulation, the expansion of the
demand for recycled products, and the establishment of
circulation industrial complexes are in progress. Through
the support of the 4R practices by the government and
private sector, zero waste disposal will be realized in the
very near future. Table 8 shows the projection and goals
for waste generation and disposal rates using different
options until 2020, to achieve zero waste and a resource
circulation in society [14].
Establishment of the promotion law for achieving
a RCS
As explained in the history of Korean waste management
legal systems, the Waste Management Law (1986) has
served as a foundation for the enactment of legislation and
many separate specialized acts. In addition to the legal
systems, many policies and strategies were also adopted. In
order to achieve the appropriate RCS with effective man-
agement and without any conflicts between these laws,
policies, and strategies, a new integrated and conceptual
legal basis needs to be established. In recent years, the
Ministry of Environment and the National Congress in
Korea started a discussion about establishing a new law,
called the Promotion Law for Achieving a RCS. This law
will be a basic law that integrates the existing laws and acts
and determines effective conceptual contents to harmonize
existing management systems and activities under the
concept of creating a resource circulating society. How-
ever, the parties that benefit under current regulations and
systems have expressed objections to the new law by
suggesting different drafts. In this regard, several different
draft bills are under review, and thus some coordination
between the political parties, the ministry, stakeholders,

123
J Mater Cycles Waste Manag
and experts is needed. The new law is expected to be
established soon [15].
Conclusion
The history of waste management in South Korea with
respect to the legal system, management practices, major
activities, and the current status of generation and disposal
options was reviewed. The Waste Management Law
established in 1986 initiated an integrated and systematic
management of all the waste streams. Based on this law,
many specialized acts and laws, both separately and with
amendments to implement major systems for reducing
waste generation and increasing the recycling rate have
been enacted in the last three decades. Due to such con-
tinuous efforts, the current status of waste management
shows that the recycling rate for overall waste is above
80 %, with 1 kg/day of total household waste generated per
capita. Only less than 10 % of the total waste is being
landfilled. This is a great accomplishment over the last
three decades, as has been manifested by the changes in
rates of landfill and recycling, from over 90 % to under
10 % and under 10 % to over 80 %, respectively. There
have been some pivotal activities to accomplish such an
epochal increment of the recycling rate with a substantial
decrease in the amount of landfill. National comprehensive
plans were established multiple times, and a volume-based
garbage rate system with a separate collection for recyc-
lables, an EPR system, and a 4Rs policy were implemented
and practiced in an appropriate manner. For the future
target of generating a total of zero waste landfilled with the
maximum recycling of wastes to resources by establishing
a RCS, a new law is currently under review. This may
include some integrated structural efforts to improve
recycling industries and markets, to set a tax system on the
waste landfilled, and to utilize all the features to create zero
landfill in Korea.
Acknowledgments This study is financially supported by the New
& Renewable Energy Technology Development Program of the
Korea Institute of Energy Technology Evaluation and Planning
(KETEP) grant funded by the Korea government Ministry of
Knowledge Economy (2011T100200273) and the R&D Center for
Valuable Recycling (Global-Top Environmental Technology Devel-
opment Program) funded by the Ministry of Environment (Project
No.:11-A03-MB). It is also supported by the Korean Ministry of
Environment (MOE) as a knowledge-based environmental service
(Waste to energy & recycling) Human Resource Development
Project.
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