+ BACKGROUND, CHALLENGES AND OBJECTIVES

Background
The regulations on food waste disposal are becoming stricter. To reduce inconveniences on citizens, Seoul is implementing the Zero Food Waste 2018 policy to minimize food waste generated and to turn it into resources.

Measures against Food Waste Problem Urgently Needed
Korea has been putting efforts to reduce waste such as food waste after joining the London Convention in December 1992, an international convention conmitted to preventing marine pollution by waste dumping into the sea.  

Stronger Food Waste Regulation
In 2005, direct landfilling of food waste was banned and separate disposal of recyclables was implemented on a national scale. As food waste water was banned from being released into the sea starting January 2013, a few food waste disposal companies refused to treat the waste, causing much inconveniences on citizens. This was because of a hike in disposal cost since the food waste water now had to be treated on land. Since both the citizens - the producers of waste - and the local governments pay for waste disposal cost, the food waste problem is, after all, a social issue.  
 

Challenges
Enormous Food Waste Disposal Cost
As of 2013, 3,070 tons of food waste is generated every day in Seoul, which is 0.03kg per day per person. Of it, 1,920 tons of food waste produced from the household category (single-family houses, multiunit buildings, and small-size restaurants) takes up 62.5%. Also, every day, 1,149 tons of food waste is generated from large waste-producing business sites such as food-serving places like big-size restaurants and hotels, and agricultural & fish markets. Of this, about 700 tons of garbage is utilized without changing its original form because of good condition.

In Seoul, the waste disposal cost is shared by most of administrative districts and citizens. It costs on average KRW 110,000-120,000 to treat 1 ton of food waste. If collection and transportation cost of about KRW 50,000 is added, a total of KRW 170,000 is required to collect, transport, and treat 1 ton of food waste. As of 1st quarter of 2013, residents only pay more or less 30% of the total disposal cost, equivalent to collection and transportation cost, even though they are the very producers of the waste. This means that the remaining 70% is covered by administrative districts. However, some districts in poor financial condition are burdened by the average annual cost of KRW 4-5 billion for food waste management.

If the food waste generated every year in Seoul is reduced by as little as 20%, KRW 20-30 billion of management cost can be saved annually, which is enough to build 30 public daycare centers.

Food Waste Bin in Seoul 
https://seoulistic.com/living-in-korea/trash-in-korea-everything-you-need-to-know-about-garbage/

Objectives
Minimize food waste generated and to turn it into resources to reduce inconveniences on citizens.

+ ACTIONS AND IMPLEMENTATION

Actions and Implementation

City-wide Implementation of Volume-based Food Waste Disposal System
In the past, a flat-rate food waste disposal system was applied to Seoul’s multi-unit buildings in which residents were able to dispose as much as food waste they wish once they pay a flat fee. A volume based system, on the other hand, was implemented on single-family houses, which comprised only 70% of entire Seoul. To reduce food waste even more, in 2010 the city government began thinking about implementing the volume-based system to all multi-unit buildings and single-family houses in Seoul to reduce food waste. Before implementing the volume-based system city-wide, Seoul carried out a pilot program with multi-unit buildings and single-family houses in some administrative districts for two years since 2011. After assessing the results from the pilot program and addressing related issues, Seoul enforced the system all city-wide. 18 districts implemented the ‘volume-based system per housing complex’ either by issuing a payment certificate or utilizing RFID to weigh the garbage on garbage trucks, and the other 7 districts adopted the ‘volume-based system per household in multi-unit buildings’ by utilizing special waste bags or RFID system.


Stable Disposal of Food Waste Water
In 2012, Seoul generated average 3,311 tons of food waste per day. Of this, waste water was 1,800 tons, of which 622 tons was released into the sea. However, as releasing food waste water to the ocean was banned starting January 2013, Seoul was in need of a solution. Preparing for the ocean dumping ban, Seoul invested approximately KRW 7 billion in installing food waste water injection facility and anti-odor facility to Jungnang and Seonam Water Treatment Centers.

In order to consistently treat food waste water generated in the Metropolitan area including Seoul, Gyeonggi, and Incheon, Seoul pushed forward a project of building a facility capable of processing 500 tons of food waste water a day in the Metropolitan area landfill that converts food waste water to biogas. As a result, the daily 622 tons of waste water that used to be released into the sea is now being treated 100%. In 2013, every day, 1,454 tons of waste water was generated, 89% (1,945 tons) of which was treated by public water treatment facilities and 11% (160 tons) by private contractors.

Also, the public food waste disposal and recycling facilities planned in the future will have a food waste water treatment facility installed on site, and food waste water treatment function will be added to the existing recycling facilities. As such, Seoul is planning to treat 680 tons of food waste water per day by 2020 by expanding the related facilities.



Installing Food Waste Reducer
Citizens started making efforts to reduce food waste due to the implementation of volume-based food waste disposal system which was enforced city-wide since 2013. Against this backdrop, there was a rise in demand for devices that reduce the volume of food waste. The city government carried out a pilot program for using food waste reducers for 2 years from 2012 to support citizens’ effort to reduce food waste. Seoul supported 19 administrative districts for their operation of large-size reducers, and decided to give the district KRW 2.5 million per reducer, which is equivalent to 5-month rental fee.

Seoul subsidized the districts with KRW 557 million for operating 231 large-size waste reducers from 2012 to 2013. Also, in 2014, Seoul also paid for the purchase of 20 large-size reducers for low-income families in multi-unit buildings in Guro-gu to use. After the 2-year pilot program, Seoul found the large-size reducers effective since they reduced 80% of food waste. Also, 83% of the residents surveyed said they were satisfied with the reducer.

Parallel to Seoul’s pilot program, administrative districts also carried out their own large-size reducer pilot programs. However, there was a problem where different types of large-size reducers with unequal performance levels were purchased by districts and supplied to multi-unit buildings. Being aware of this issue, Seoul formulated and recommended a quality standard guideline for food waste reducers in order to induce production and provision of reducers with reasonable quality. This guideline, which is applicable to large-size reducers with daily processing capacity of less than 100kg, is for administrative districts to use as a reference when purchasing and installing large-size reducers for multi-unit buildings.

+ OUTCOMES AND IMPACTS

Outcomes and Impacts

Food Waste Shrinking Gradually
Ever since the city government started to actively implement the volume-based food waste disposal system in January 2013, the amount of food waste generated in the household category in 25 administrative districts, which recorded 2,197 tons per day in the first half of 2012, shrank to 1,978 tons in the same period of 2013. This means that, on average, 219 tons of food waste decreased every day resulting in a 10% reduction annually. Furthermore, the food waste produced in the household category also saw a 14% reduction, a KRW 1.8 million cost saving annually. (Large waste-producing business sites disposed food waste on their own.) Seoul’s RFID volume-based food waste disposal system was also introduced in The Guardian, a British daily newspaper, in March 2014.

Volume based food Waste Disposal System 
https://seoulsolution.kr/en/content/minimizing-food-waste-zero-food-waste-seoul-2018

+ REPLICABILITY AND SCALABILITY

A group of Ghana's Environment, Science and Techonology minsters visting Seoul Metropolitan government and hearing about landfills and waste resources.

Replicability and Scalability

Seoul Metropolitan Government 
During his visit to Korea to participate in the talks on cooperation in the environment between Ghana and Korea, the Environment, Science, and Technology Minister, Kwabena Boatang, visited the Seoul Metropolitan Area Management Corporation in Incheon in March 2018, and looked around landfill and waste resources facilities. At the 50MW landfill gas power plant and landfill, Boatang showed great interest in waste management and resource-building technology. The government of Ghana, which is suffering from a serious waste disposal problem, visited the country in order to come up with sustainable waste treatment measures. 

Central and local government officials from each country, including Panama, Uzbekistan and Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam, are looking for a new landfills in the metropolitan area. The plan is to benchmark a technology that will help 25 million people in the Seoul metropolitan area to handle discarded garbage and turn them into resources and energy.

The number of intellectual property rights currently held by the Seoul Metropolitan Land Management Corporation, which has succeeded in developing 217 internal technologies, amounts to 89 including 61 in Korea. It also includes 16 foreign patents such as the U.S., China, Vietnam and Colombia.

Major patents include gas extraction devices for landfill, wastewater organic materials, quality and phosphor removal devices for efficient disposal of leachate, biogas manufacturing devices for utilizing gases from food waste water, and waste landfill location tracking system. The corporation has won four gold medals for the third year in a row, including five gold medals, five silver prizes and two bronze statues until 2017.

The economic and social effects of various technologies developed by the corporation are huge. Biogas mixing system, which is the first technology in Korea, saves 11 billion won in fuel costs and reduces greenhouse gas emissions. Devices that increase the production of methane gas and air pollution are also making between 100 million and 200 million won a year when disposing of food waste water. As of 2018, 3,500 people from 30 countries visited Korea to benchmark construction technology, leading to technology exports.

+ BUDGET AMOUNT