Appendix B – 2016 Korea Recycling Study Tour Report
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2016 Korea Recycling Study Tour Report
Submitted by
Prof. Jonathan Wong
Sino-Forest Applied Research Centre for Pearl River Delta Environment,
Hong Kong Baptist University
Appendix B – 2016 Korea Recycling Study Tour Report
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Table of Content
1. About the visit ......................................................................................................................... 4
2. Seminar and Visited sites ........................................................................................................ 4
2.1 Seminar – Supply Chain Management of Solid Waste in Korea .......................................... 4
2.2 Hanam Union Park and Tower .............................................................................................. 6
2.3 Metropolitan Electronics Recycling Center .......................................................................... 7
2.4 Songpa recycling complex .................................................................................................... 9
2.5 Waste collection point in house residence .......................................................................... 11
2.6 Private sector for waste collection – Sun-Kyong Resources............................................... 13
2.7 Seoul Resource Center ........................................................................................................ 15
2.8 Korea Environment Corporation (KECO) & National Institute of Environmental Research (NIER) ....................................................................................................................................... 16
2.9 Environmental corporation of Incheon ............................................................................... 19
3. Tentative rundown ................................................................................................................. 21
4. Feedback from the participants .............................................................................................. 23
List of Figures
Figure 1 Photo of Prof. Wong, Prof. Rhee, and Mr. Kwok ............................................................ 5
Figure 2 Group photo of the Seminar ............................................................................................. 5
Figure 3 Map of underground facilities .......................................................................................... 6
Figure 4 Group Photo in Hanam Union Park and Tower ............................................................... 7
Figure 5 Map of recycling centre in South Korea........................................................................... 8
Figure 6 Visited production line for recycling items ...................................................................... 8
Figure 7 Group Photo in Metropolitan Electronics Recycling Centre ............................................ 9
Figure 8 Souvenir was presented to the representative from Songpa Recycling Complex .......... 10
Figure 9 Idea sharing during the facility visit ............................................................................... 10
Figure 10 Map of Songpa recycling complex ............................................................................... 11
Figure 11 Food waste bins by using RFID system ....................................................................... 12
Figure 12 Prof. Rhee shared the way of using RFID system ........................................................ 12
Figure 13 Souvenir was presented to the representative from Waste collection point in house residence ....................................................................................................................................... 13
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Figure 14 Waste collection facility in Sun-Kyong Resources ...................................................... 14
Figure 15 Workers packed the recyclable items ........................................................................... 14
Figure 16 Disassembled waste electrical and electronic equipment ............................................. 15
Figure 17 A staff disassembled waste electrical and electronic equipment .................................. 16
Figure 18 Group photo in Seoul Resource Center ........................................................................ 16
Figure 19 Sharing Korea waste recycling system, management policies, and community practices 17
Figure 20 Carbon Zero Building in KECO & NIER .................................................................... 18
Figure 21 Upgraded Food waste-individual Quantity Measuring Machine ................................. 18
Figure 22 Group photo in KECO & NIER ................................................................................... 19
Figure 23 Sharing the information of waste incineration and food waste composting plant ....... 20
Figure 24 One of the waste incineration and food waste composting facilities ........................... 20
Figure 25 Group photo in Environmental corporation of Incheon ............................................... 21
Figure 26 Color-coded garbage bags in South Korea ................................................................... 24
Figure 27 Generation and treatment of food waste in South Korea ............................................. 25
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1. About the visit
The Sino-Forest Applied Research Centre for Pearl River Delta Environment, ARCPE was
established in mid-2008 with funding support from private donations from the Sino-Forest
Corporation, the Wofoo Foundation, and Mr. Allen T. Y. Chan. The Centre aims to improve
the environmental quality of the Pearl River Delta (PRD) region by creating a platform for
various stakeholders in Hong Kong and PRD to tackle trans-boundary pollution problems at
sources, advocating the governments on environmental policy, and providing solutions for the
industries. The research centre deploys different knowledge exchange activities between Hong
Kong and other countries every year. In 2016, from 1st to 4th November we will organize the
Korea Recycling Tour in order to learn the advance recycling operations and share the
insightful recycling technique.
Once we released the application information and site visits details, over 60 people applied the
2016 Korea Recycling Study Tour. Due to the maximum capacity of 40 participants during the
visits, we selected the recyclers based on first come first serve and recycling industry related.
Meanwhile, our Korea consultant planned one seminar and also contacted the representatives
of 8 recycling sites for our participants to learn the insightful recycling concepts and
technology in the daily operations.
2. Seminar and Visited sites
2.1 Seminar – Supply Chain Management of Solid Waste in Korea
Date: 1st November 2016
Time: 16:30 – 18:00pm
Venue: 308 Hansan Road, Hanseo Building, Gangnam-gu, South Korea
Participants: 30 people includes Hong Kong recyclers, Representatives from recycling
organization, and HKBU Staff
Highlights: The seminar gave us a clear picture on Korea Solid Waste Management. The
local government launched difference waste legislations since 1986, like Waste Control
Act Enact, Act on the Promotion of Saving and Recycling of Resources Enact, Act on
Promotion of Purchase of Green Products Enact, Construction Waste Recycling Promotion
Act Enact, and Act on Resource Circulation of Electrical and Electronic Equipment and
Vehicles. There are mainly 6 items – glass, ferrous, plastics, paper, textile and EPS
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collected of recycling waste in residence. They also adopted RFID (Radio-frequency
identification) system to collect for food waste in 2010. Besides, the government launched
the different systems and regulation for recycling the E-waste, such as Eco-Assurance
System.
Figure 1 Photo of Prof. Wong, Prof. Rhee, and Mr. Kwok
Figure 2 Group photo of the Seminar
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2.2 Hanam Union Park and Tower
Date: 2nd November 2016
Time: 10:00 – 12:00pm
Venue: 710 Misa-daero, Hanam-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea
Participants: 40 people includes Hong Kong recyclers, Representatives from associations and
recycling organization, and HKBU Staff
Highlights: There are four facilities – Sewage Treatment Plant, Waste Treatment Plant, Park
Development Facilities and Convenience Facilities for Residents in Hanam Union Park and
Tower. Sewage Treatment Plant can process 32,000 tons per day, and incineration plant can
process 48 tons per day. We also visited recycled waste sorting facility, which includes import
and supply facilities, pre-processing facility, styrofoam baller, hand sorting facility etc. These
facilities can sort out different items based on the density.
Figure 3 Map of underground facilities
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Figure 4 Group Photo in Hanam Union Park and Tower
2.3 Metropolitan Electronics Recycling Center
Date: 2nd November 2016
Time: 15:00 – 16:30pm
Venue: 342 Yongin-si, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea
Participants: 40 people includes Hong Kong recyclers, Representatives from associations and
recycling organization, and HKBU Staff
Highlights: Metropolitan Electronics Recycling Center established in 2003 is a government
owned treatment centre. The total output is 21,000 tons per year. There are total 9 Metropolitan
Electronics Recycling Centers in South Korea. Through sharing the overall operations and
recycling management systems, participants know the operations process of Korea Happy Call
System and how it works in Korea. As mentioned by the centre manager, they also promote
Producer Responsibility Scheme nationwide in order to reduce the E-waste, for example,
mobile, refrigerator, air conditioner, washing machine etc. We also visited the operation
factory to see the production line. Participants also raised relevant questions about the
recycling operations during the Q&A session.
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Figure 5 Map of recycling centre in South Korea
Figure 6 Visited production line for recycling items
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Figure 7 Group Photo in Metropolitan Electronics Recycling Centre
2.4 Songpa recycling complex
Date: 3rd November 2016
Time: 09:30 – 11:30am
Venue: 692-2 Jang Ji-Dong, Songpa, South Korea
Participants: 40 people includes Hong Kong recyclers, Representatives from associations and
recycling organization, and HKBU Staff
Highlights: Zero Waste Park of Songpa district is the very place that is aware of the importance
of environment and is equipped with new waste treatment facility. Songpa recycling complex
is a private organization. The centre process 320 tons food waste per day by using anaerobic
digestion technology, and deal with 180 tons municipal solid waste per day. Therefore, the
total treatment capacity is 500 tons per day. The participants were briefed on the operation of
Songpa recycling centre before the visit of food waste processing facility. Although the centre
mainly processed the food waste, there was no strong odor sensed at the processing area. After
the processing, the food waste is turned into animal feeds, bones, biodiesel, and metal.
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Figure 8 Souvenir was presented to the representative from Songpa Recycling Complex
Figure 9 Idea sharing during the facility visit
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Figure 10 Map of Songpa recycling complex
2.5 Waste collection point in house residence
Date: 3rd November 2016
Time: 12:00 – 12:30am
Venue: A private house residence in Songpa, South Korea
Participants: 40 people includes Hong Kong recyclers, Representatives from associations and
recycling organization, and HKBU Staff
Highlights: Participants viewed the RFID system in a private house residence in Songpa district.
Since South Korea adopted “Comprehensive Measures for Food Waste Reduction” in 2010,
the volume-based food waste fee system was implemented. The fee is collected by the
proportion of the food waste. Every resident has unique RFID card for disposal the food waste.
The trail project using RFID system was conducted between 2010 and 2011. Now, the RFID
system is mainly implemented in the large scale residential area.
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Figure 11 Food waste bins by using RFID system
Figure 12 Prof. Rhee shared the way of using RFID system
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Figure 13 Souvenir was presented to the representative from Waste collection point in house
residence
2.6 Private sector for waste collection – Sun-Kyong Resources
Date: 3rd November 2016
Time: 14:30 – 15:30pm
Venue: Sunkyong Resources, 601-2 Jaya-dong, Gwangjin-gu, Seoul, South Korea
Participants: 40 people includes Hong Kong recyclers, Representatives from associations and
recycling organization, and HKBU Staff
Highlights: This is a privately owned small scale recyclable waste collection and sorting place.
This centre collects and sorts a different kind of metal, paper, and plastic. Participants learn
the recycling business environment for SMEs in South Korea, and also shared the business
operations insights.
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Figure 14 Waste collection facility in Sun-Kyong Resources
Figure 15 Workers packed the recyclable items
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2.7 Seoul Resource Center
Date: 3rd November 2016
Time: 16:00 – 18:00pm
Venue: Songjeong-dong, Seongdong-gu, Seoul, South Korea
Participants: 40 people includes Hong Kong recyclers, Representatives from associations and
recycling organization, and HKBU Staff
Highlights: Seoul Resource Center is a social enterprise for collecting and recycling discarded
home appliances and mobile phones. The centre began to operate in December 2009. Eco City
Seoul, Inc. became a social enterprise start to hire disabled people to do the simple operations
works in 2010, since Seoul Resource Center mainly disassembles products by man hands.
Nowadays, Seoul Resource Center has 52 employees in 810 m2 site and the treatment capacity
is 3,000 tons of E-waste per year and 100 tons of mobile device per year.
Figure 16 Disassembled waste electrical and electronic equipment
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Figure 17 A staff disassembled waste electrical and electronic equipment
Figure 18 Group photo in Seoul Resource Center
2.8 Korea Environment Corporation (KECO) & National Institute of Environmental Research
(NIER)
Date: 4th November 2016
Time: 10:00 – 12:00pm
Venue: Incheon 42 (Environmental Research Complex), South Korea
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Participants: 40 people includes Hong Kong recyclers, Representatives from associations and
recycling organization, and HKBU Staff
Highlights: KECO is an affiliated agency under Kores’s Ministry of Environment established
in January 2010. The mission is to contribute to eco-friendly national development through the
improvement of the environment and promotion of resource recycling. There are total 2,714
experts employed in KECO and most of them are the engineers. KECO focuses on climate and
air, water and soil, resource recirculation, and environmental infrastructure. During the visit,
Allbaro – integrated waste management system was introduced for managing and controlling
the process of waste flow from discharge, transport and final disposal. RFID system is one of
the functions in Allbaro. The system included GIS system, the waste statistics system, and
waste manifest system etc. Through the sharing and visit, participants learn the high-tech
system to manage the waste disposal.
Figure 19 Sharing Korea waste recycling system, management policies, and community practices
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Figure 20 Carbon Zero Building in KECO & NIER
Figure 21 Upgraded Food waste-individual Quantity Measuring Machine
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Figure 22 Group photo in KECO & NIER
2.9 Environmental corporation of Incheon
Date: 4th November 2016
Time: 14:30 – 16:30pm
Venue: 892 Incheon New Port, Yeonsu-gu, Incheon, South Korea
Participants: 38 people includes Hong Kong recyclers, Representatives from associations and
recycling organization, and HKBU Staff
Highlights: This is an Incheon waste incineration and food waste composting plant. The
treatment capacity is 500 tons per day for two sets of facilities. The area is 260,000 m2 of the
site, which cost KRW 150 billion and three years to construct the site. There are 240 tons of
solid waste in Incheon, among them 14% go to the landfill, 26% go to the process of
incineration, 68% of the solid waste will be recycled. The waste can be the energy to support
20,000 families to use the thermal energy. Besides, the site also integrates with one communal
theme park that using the hot water generated from incineration plant.
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Figure 23 Sharing the information of waste incineration and food waste composting plant
Figure 24 One of the waste incineration and food waste composting facilities
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Figure 25 Group photo in Environmental corporation of Incheon
3. Tentative rundown
1st November 2016 (Tuesday) Time Rundown Notes 0645 Meet & Greet at HK Int’l airport (Aisle A)
0915 - 1350 HK Seoul (CX410 0915/1350) Est. arrival time 13:50
1400 - 1500 Immigration Currency exchange 1500 Go to meeting venue 1630 - 1800 Seminar Wifi available
1815 Dinner Hanwoori : 강남구 도산대로 308 한서빌딩 / 02-541-4270
Same Venue
1915 Go to hotel 2015 Sightseeing - 2130 Back to hotel
2nd November 2016 (Wednesday) Time Rundown Notes
0630 Breakfast Bring your room card
0850 Hanam union park and tower : 경기도 하남시 미사대로 710 (신장동) tel. 031-790-6255
-
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1000 - 1200 Visit Hanam Union Park and Tower *2 hour
1230 Lunch 점심) 태백산맥 단체식당 : 송파구 송파동 7-12 2층 / 02-414-2484
-
1330
Metropolitan Electronics Recycling Center MERC : 경기도 용인시 처인구 이동면 백옥대로 342본갈 67 (이동면) tel. 031-323-5740
-
1500 - 1630 MERC TOUR *1.5 hour
1800 Dinner
Viking Buffet 저녁) 바이킹 뷔페 : 강남구 삼성동 159 오크우드프리미어호텔 지하 1층 / 02-551-2233
-
1900 Go to hotel Check Boucher P.10
3rd November 2016 (Thursday) Time Rundown Notes
0630 Breakfast Bring your room card
0845 Songpa recycling complex : 서울시 송파구 장지동 692-2 tel. 02-2147-2659 (정소정)
-
0930 - 1130 Complex Tour *2 hour
1200 - 1230 Waste collection point in house residence : 인근 아파트에서 재활용되는 부분을 보여준다고 하였습니다.
*0.5 hour
1300 Lunch Omori 점심) 오모리찌개 : 송파구 송파대로 473 장평빌딩 / 02-416-0067
1350
Private sector for waste collection : 선경자원, 서울특별시 광진구 자양동 601-2 (김옥순 tel. 010-3490-2813 / 02-3436-6335)
-
1430 - 1530 Private sector for waste collection – Sun-kyong Resources *1 hour
1600 - 1800 Seoul SR center : 서울특별시 성동구 송정동 73-36 tel. 02-2244-5133
*2 hour
1830 Dinner 저녁) 태백산맥 단체식당 : 송파구 송파동 7-12 2층 / 02-414-2484
-
1930 Go to hotel Check Boucher P.10
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4th November 2016 (Friday) Time Rundown Notes
0630 Breakfast Bring your room card
0830
KECO 及 NIER KECO : 인천광역시 서구 환경로 42 (경서동 종합환경연구단지) tel. 032-590-3173 (임수형) NIER : 인천광역시 서구 환경로 42 (종합환경연구단지) tel. 032-560-7114
-
1000 - 1200 KECO and NIER Tour *2 hours
1245 Lunch 점심) 풍미중식당 : 인천 중구 선린동 32 / 032-772-2680
1 table for 8 people
1345 Environmental corporation of Incheon : 인천광역시 연수구 인천신항대로 892번길 50 tel. 032-899-4613 (안호상)
-
1430 - 1630 Environmental Corporation Tour *2 hours 1630 Go to Incheon International Airport
1950 - 2245 Incheon HK (CX419 1950/2250)
Est. arrival time 2250
4. Feedback from the participants
After the eight site visits and one seminar for recycling operations in 2016 Korea Recycling
Study Tour, all participants shared their own point of view about this visits and recycling
operations, and they also brought new ideas for Hong Kong recycling industry.
Here are the sharing and brainstorming points:
a. Over 20 years development of Korea recycling industry, we found that Korea government
launched the relevant regulations step by step that followed and supported the goal to
reduce the whole waste in the society.
b. Korea private-owned recycling firms or public-owned recycling firms have tight
cooperations with Korea government. The government and recycling firms communicate
and share the recycling issues with each other to reach the mutual agreement on waste
reduction. For example, there are difference kind of garbage bags (as shown in Figure 26)
for Korea citizen to disposal wastes. If the waste is not in one of the special color-coded
garbage bags, it won’t be collected. The waste processing centre or collecting centre are
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paid through the sales of color-coded garbage bags. It was a very successful regulation and
public awareness campaign for the authority to support the recycling industry.
Figure 26 Color-coded garbage bags in South Korea
c. During the visits, we realized that many local recycling firms hold the idea of “Waste as a
Resource”. The local recycling firms are trying their best to turn the waste into the resource
in South Korea. For example, incineration plants can provide the energy to nearby residents,
recycled food waste can be animal feeds or biodiesel, recycled E-waste can be reused as
accessories.
d. Korea government promotes recycling concepts nationwide. Through the recycling
education and awareness campaign, most of the citizen have the strong concept of recycling
waste. For example, large-scale households are adopting RFID system to dispose of their
food waste and the waste fee will be charged based on weight. More and more citizen will
pay attention to how much they disposed of. In Korea, the food waste recycling reached
94.3%, the landfill only contains 1.9%, and incineration was 3.8% in 2014 as shown in
Figure 27.
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Figure 27 Generation and treatment of food waste in South Korea
e. Korea government established a successful monitoring and controlling system for the waste.
The recycling firms follow the regulations and rules of treating the waste. During the visits,
we found that all workers follow the standardized rules during the operation process such
as safety and occupational health guideline.
f. Although Korea recycling industry doesn’t use very advanced technologies to do the
recycling items, the whole system includes government and local firms work together to
bring the synergy. That brings us to think how do we achieve the high recycling volume in
Hong Kong?
g. If the government can control the waste source by regulation such as Municipal Solid
Waste (MSW) Charging Act, it will be beneficial to the whole society in Hong Kong.
Besides, the model of Korea recycling industry draws a clear picture that differentiated
recycling facilities, supported policies, and supporting systems can reduce the waste and
increase the recycling volume.
End of Report
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