Waste
Overview
Waste (폐기물, waste) collectively refers to solid, liquid, and gaseous substances generated in the processes of human production, consumption, and daily activities that are no longer used directly for their original purpose. Waste is treated not merely as "garbage" but as a complex socio-technical issue intertwined with resource circulation, environmental pollution, public health, and industrial competitiveness. Modern waste management is rapidly shifting from a treatment paradigm centered on landfilling and incineration to a circular economy system based on Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle.
Key Content
1. Classification of Waste
Waste is divided by source into household waste and business-site waste, and business-site waste is further divided into general business-site waste and designated waste (hazardous waste). Designated waste includes waste acids and alkalis, heavy-metal-containing sludge, waste oil, and infectious waste among medical waste, and separate, stringent treatment standards apply. Classifications by generation characteristics—such as construction waste, electronic waste (e-waste), food waste, plastic waste, and radioactive waste—are also widely used.
2. Treatment Methods
The most traditional method is sanitary landfilling, in which waste is buried in a landfill equipped with an impermeable liner and leachate treatment facilities. Landfilling has limitations in that it generates methane, a greenhouse gas, and occupies land for a long time. Incineration can greatly reduce volume and recover thermal energy, but managing emissions of air pollutants such as dioxins and fine particulate matter is a key issue. Recently, advanced resource recovery technologies such as pyrolysis and gasification, biogas recovery through anaerobic digestion, and pyrolysis liquefaction of waste plastics have been spreading.
3. Recycling and Resource Circulation
Recycling is divided into material recycling (conversion into recycled raw materials), chemical recycling (pyrolysis and depolymerization), and thermal recycling (energy recovery). In the case of plastics, investment in chemical recycling is surging to compensate for the quality limitations of mechanical recycling. In electronic waste, the recovery of valuable metals such as gold, silver, copper, and rare earths has become an important industry, and "waste battery recycling," which recovers lithium, nickel, and cobalt from battery waste, has emerged as a key value chain with the expansion of electric vehicle adoption.
4. Legal and Institutional Framework
Korea regulates the entire process from waste generation to collection, transport, treatment, and recycling, centered on the Wastes Control Act (폐기물관리법), and operates a system for suppressing waste generation and recognizing circular resources through the Framework Act on Resource Circulation (자원순환기본법). The Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) system applies to packaging, electronic products, and other items, imposing recycling obligations on producers. The European Union is pursuing its circular economy package through the Waste Framework Directive, extended producer responsibility, and restrictions on landfilling and incineration.
5. Environmental and Health Impacts
Improperly treated waste causes serious environmental and health problems, including soil and groundwater contamination, marine plastic pollution, the spread of microplastics, and exposure to hazardous chemicals. In particular, plastics that enter the ocean affect the entire ecosystem through the food chain, and greenhouse gas emissions from incineration and landfilling are cited as major reduction targets in responding to the climate crisis.
Recent Trends
In 2024–2025, the key topics in the waste field are "decarbonization" and "transition to a circular economy." The EU has strengthened obligations for reusable and recyclable packaging and standards for recycled content through the Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR), and Korea is also pursuing mandatory use of recycled raw materials and expansion of circular resource recognition. International discussions on the plastics treaty (INC) continue to show disagreement over a legally binding treaty that includes reduction at the production stage.
On the technology side, AI- and robot-based automated sorting, digital product passports (DPP), and the industrialization of waste battery and waste solar panel recycling are growing rapidly. In addition, the use of waste incineration heat for district heating, landfill gas recovery and resource recovery, and CCUS-integrated treatment are being linked to carbon neutrality policies. Socially, citizen-participation reduction policies such as disposable product regulations, the refill and repair economy, and the spread of sharing services are expanding.
Related Topics
- [[순환경제|Circular economy]]
- [[재활용|Recycling]]
- [[플라스틱 오염|Plastic pollution]]
- [[기후변화|Climate change]]
- [[전자폐기물|Electronic waste]]
- [[자원순환기본법|Framework Act on Resource Circulation]]