Waste disposal charge row batters residents

By Na Jeong-ju

Residents in some districts in Seoul and Gyeonggi Province are fighting bad odors from food waste being stacked up near their homes as firms are refusing to empty bins amid disputes with district offices over disposal charges.

The firms have been demanding an increase of over 50 percent current charges, citing growing costs since the government banned them from dumping waste water from food garbage into the ocean early this month.

District offices are now paying an average of 80,000 won ($76) per ton. As a result, the firms are now demanding more than 120,000 won.

“We are now keeping food waste at home because the waste bins in our apartment complex are already full,” said Hwang Mi-sun, a housewife in ilsan, Gyeonggi Province. “Whenever I pass by the bins, I smell the stench of rotting food. Residents here are concerned about possible health risks for children.”

Residents are getting furious over the stalled negotiations between district offices and waste disposal firms. The firms have vowed not to collect waste until their demands are met.

“I don’t understand how this kind of thing happened. We shouldn’t forgive the public officials who failed to prevent this disaster,” an angry citizen, surnamed Shin, said in a message posted on the website of Seongbuk-gu, Seoul.

According to Seoul City, which has 25 district offices, 16 of them have used private firms to dispose of food waste, while the rest have their own disposal facilities. The heads of the 16 district offices gathered last week to discuss solutions amid growing complaints from residents. They called for mediation by Seoul City and the central government to settle the dispute with disposal firms.

City officials, however, say it is not their responsibility to dispose of food waste from households.

“Under the current system, each district office renews a contract with a disposal firm every year or every two years. The city government is not involved in such contracts,” a city spokesman said.

Other officials said district offices had long been advised to take precaution against possible disputes with disposal firms, but they didn’t take the matter seriously.

“They knew the central government’s ban on dumping waste water from food garbage would prompt disposal firms to hike charges. However, the offices failed to take appropriate measures,” another city official said.

In 1993, South Korea joined the U.N. Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes, under which firms and individuals here should not dump waste water from food garbage into the ocean from 2013.

Firms had long thrown food waste water into the ocean because it is much cheaper than using waste disposal systems. However, they are now banned from doing so, and violators would face fines or a business suspension, according to the Ministry of Environment.