NFORMATION NOTE
South Korea's waste management policies
1. Introduction
1.1 South Korea has been pursuing a sustainable waste management
strategy since 1990s focusing on demand-side management for reducing waste
generation at the source. A number of new policy measures have been
introduced to reduce waste generation in the prior phase of disposal. This
strategy contrasts with the waste management policies adopted before 1990s,
which had been confined to expanding facilities for the post-treatment of wastes
to provide a safe and clean environment. Local governments were charged
with the responsibility of expanding the disposal facilities for waste treatment.
1.2 Rapid economic developments in 1990s have precipitated the change
from supply-side to demand-side waste management strategy. The South
Korean Government has realized that expanding waste treatment facilities could
not meet the ever increasing demand for waste treatment. In particular, the
shortage of sites for waste treatment facilities and soaring waste collection and
disposal cost have warranted the need for controlling the demand for waste
services.
1.3 With the shift of the government's policy goal from maximizing
treatment facilities to minimizing wastes, responsibility for waste management
is no longer merely borne by local governments. It is also shared by
consumers and producers. Extended responsibility has contributed to the
enhancement of people's awareness of waste management and environmental
issues in the country. In 2003, the waste management policies experienced
another paradigm change. The South Korean Government has expanded the
policy scope to reusing wastes as an energy resource, as wastes are viewed as
resources to be explored rather than as something for disposal