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| Staff sort out recyclable goods from collected trash at a waste management center in Gwangju, Monday. /Yonhap |
The crisis ended in one day but could recur
By Kim Se-jeong
Forty-eight private recycling companies in Seoul and the surrounding area refused to collect recyclable plastic bags, bottles and plastic foam Sunday, posing a waste management crisis.
The companies cited commercial non-viability as their motivation but returned to work Monday in exchange for a comprehensive plan by the Ministry of Environment to make up for losses.
By law, plastics are recyclable goods and should be collected separately and reused.
The move especially affected big apartment complexes where residents have separate contracts with private collecting companies to get extra money, instead of relying on public services. Waste management is under the responsibility of district governments in cities.
The crisis began with China which used to import their recycled goods but banned foreign imports recently for environmental reasons.
The companies' move created unprecedented chaos in parts of Seoul and Gyeonggi Province. Big boxes full of uncollected plastic bags and bottles were left outside apartment buildings.
Confused residents moved back and forth between their apartments and waste garages.
Apartment security guards stopped people from throwing away the refused good, sparking conflict _ police in Gimpo, Gyeonggi Province, booked a 70-year-old man Monday for attacking his apartment guard.
According to the ministry, almost 418,655 tons of plastic bags were disposed of in 2016 in Korea. The figure for plastic bottles was 352,846 tons. The figure for plastic foam wasn't available.
The collected plastic bags are usually sent to trash centers first. There, clean bags are washed and turned into solid fuel before being shipped to China. Dirty bags are sent for incineration _ the incineration facilities sometimes make energy with them.
China used to be the world's biggest trash importer, receiving almost 56 percent of the world's garbage. But that began to change last year when the government vowed to preserve the nation's environment.
Combined with low oil prices, China's move dumped the price of plastic to 257 won per kilogram in March, down from 304 won per kilogram in 2017.
An official from Mapo-gu Office in Seoul working on waste management said the incident was only the tip of the iceberg and demonstrated Korea's overall vulnerability in waste management.
"The country has so much trash every day but lacks an orchestrated waste management system through which trash gets picked up, processed and recycled. This can happen again any time as long as we rely on China to dispose of our trash," an official surnamed Yoo said.
He also criticized the Ministry of Environment. "The ministry only tosses around accountability to local governments which have responsibility to deal with waste management by law. But we can't handle this without the national government's financial support. Waste management is expensive."
Mapo-gu's yearly budget for garbage collection and processing is 4 billion won.
Yoo added Korea needs experts who can look into waste management in a holistic manner and draft comprehensive management policies. "Also, I believe this service should be taken care of by the government, not by private companies because they work only for profits."
