[SEED Projects] SRF Waste Intermediate Treatment Project
The News around the world presented us with the severity, and the War against wastes began.
On March 3, 2019, CNN focused on the issue of waste in Korea with the title of “Trash Mountain” in Korea.
CNN points out that Korea’s annual per capita consumption of plastics is the world’s highest at 132 kilograms, and referred to 173,000 tons of mountainous wastes accumulated in the waste recycling company in Uesung-gun, Gyeongbuk province, Korea as “Trash Mountain.” The company revealed that while it had received permits to dispose of 2,000 tons of wastes, but has accumulated over 80 times the that at the time of coverage.
(Source: Association of Plastics Manufacturers in Europe (APME) l Economics Review)
Recently, media companies and experts in Korea and around the world have raised serious concerns about waste disposal issues. According to the results from the Ministry of Environment of Korea, there are 235 piles of illegal waste, accumulatively approximately 1.2 million tons, left in many parts of the country. Wastes yet-to-be processed in Korea and waste that has been transported illegally to Southeast Asia but are now left untouched in the ports are causing other subsequent problems such as odor and fire.
There has been a series of processes that have intensified the problem of waste disposal. South Korea, where plastic consumption is particularly high, used to export plastic waste to China. However, in 2017, Korea’s exports of waste plastics plunged 90 percent as China halted imports of waste plastics due to environmental pollution problems at home. Besides, countries such as Japan and the U.S., which had previously exported recycled waste to China, have decided to ship it to Korea, and the amount of domestic imports of recycled waste has doubled from 2,468 tons to 4,915 tons.
Private recycling companies are adding to the severity of the problem by not collecting non-exported wastes such as papers or PET bottles; leaving wastes rendered unprofitable after falling of unit price untouched; and/or failing to keep disposal amount up with the amount of waste generation. Nevertheless, waste generation is increasing every year due to industrial development.
Domestic waste disposal methods are primarily landfill, incineration, or recycling.
Waste landfill means to bury waste in the ground and is the oldest and most widely used treatment. This method deals with inflammable and non-recyclable wastes, such as plastics.
Incineration is a method of screening and burning flammable wastes, including organic wastes such as food, plants, and paper. Waste disposal at the incinerator generates ash, heat and combustion gases, of which heat can be recovered as energy.
Recycling is a way to turn products back into resources and use them as raw materials for new products. Usually, waste oil, wastewater, and waste wood are recycled, and in Korea, separate discharges are recommended to increase the efficiency of recycling.
Among the three treatment methods, landfill and incineration cause serious environmental pollution. Methane emissions from landfills are one of the major atmospheric gases that cause climate change on Earth. The leachate discharged from the landfill contains contaminants such as organic matter and heavy metals, which can contaminate or stench the groundwater. Nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides, and dioxins that occur during waste incineration are harmful substances that can cause liver cancer, lung cancer and bronchial diseases and are the main culprits of fine dust that has become a problem recently.
Even though they cause serious environmental harm, it is difficult to insist on recycling. This is because the process of waste recycling itself is not easy nor straightforward. Whereas consumers may categorize plastics as recyclable waste, many types amongst seemingly identical plastics separate those that are recyclable and those that are not. Those that are non-recycled are eventually processed as general waste.
In particular, waste plastics — which are difficult to recycle and thus are difficult to dispose of — account for the most substantial portion of waste types in Korea. Accordingly, the government has announced that it will take institutional measures such as easing regulations on solid waste (SRF) facilities that use waste plastics as fuel and removing colored pet bottles from the market by 2021.
Solid waste (SRF) is an excellent choice for Korea. Flammable wastes can be disposed of by SRF, which can reduce the amount of landfill by about 80%, thus increasing the life span of landfill sites (which is a particularly efficient treatment for Korea with a small land area.) Also, the amount of energy that can be recovered through SRF is much higher compared to simple incineration, allowing more efficient energy recycling through waste. Also, as high oil prices continued until a few years ago, the SRF project has been in the spotlight as a substitute fuel for power generation for Korea imports all fuel.
SEED entered the SRF industry in early 2018 to intervene and respond to the deepening waste problem based on corporate ideology and professional predictions.
In the second half of 2018, the company established SEED Bukang by M&A of its existing operations in Cheongju, and it achieved optimal facilities through its partnership with Germany’s “Doppstadt.” In the heart of Chungcheong Province, where the industrial complex is concentrated, a large eco-friendly business site has been created to contribute to the Korean fight against waste.
SEED builds a business platform with blockchain technology, the fourth industrial revolution so that anyone in the world can participate in SEED’s green business. Building on the growing number of SEED business platform participants, SEED will realize the global undercurrent of environmental protection awareness.
SEED will expand its SEED campaign, or ‘green campaign,’ to realize its slogan, “Saving Earth, You Can Do It with SEED.”
‘SEED Bukang’ News Article URL
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SAVING EARTH, YOU CAN DO IT WITH SEED
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