President Suh Ju-won of Sudokwon Landfill Site Management Corp. (Photos: SLC)

A view of Dream Park built on a landfill site as large as 6 million pyeong in space near Incheon.

Sudokwon Landfill Site Management Corp. is set to take drastic action to reduce waste brought to the site for the Dream Park, which is some 6 million pyeong in size, by raising fees charged for waste dumped in the landfill, the Ministry of Environment and the landfill company said Feb. 25.

They said the move became necessary as the waste brought into the landfill site increased rapidly, requiring them to control the excessive loads of wastes dumped in the area. The move is expected to maintain the area’s superb scenery with all kinds of seasonal flowers blossoming from season to season, with a forest that is lively with many robust trees, making it beautiful enough to attract tourists.

The fees charged for the waste will be determined following consultations with the concerned authorities in the area, including the Seoul Metropolitan Government, Incheon City and the Gyeonggi Provincial Government, along with the total quantity of the wastes allowed to be dumped into the area annually.

Currently, the per ton charges for waste amount to 55,005 won per ton, which is likely to be boosted to 62,076 per ton, a rise of 13 percent. Construction related waste fees could be increased to 99,893 won per ton from 77,092 per ton, a rise of 30 percent. The charges for daily wastes will be increased again once on July 1 next year to 70,056 won per ton. The drastic measures have been set up to control the excess wastes dumped into the area.

The Incehon West Sudokown Landfill Lot. 3-1 Site, with 1.03 sq. million meters in size, is only designed for 18.91 million tons of waste, some 12,000 tons daily. But the wastes brought daily to the site now exceed 13,000 tons, and if left alone, the site will be filled by November 2024, much earlier than expected date of August 2025.

Officials of the Environment Ministry said firmly that the increased fees for waste will reduce the waste brought into the site, so that the site may be able to be maintained as scheduled until August 2025.

They also discussed measures to limit the quantity of waste to be brought in, but agreed that the regions should be ready with incinerators and other installations to reduce wastes brought to the landfill sites before putting the limits on quantities.

The 5,000-acre landfill handles waste from the 22 million residents of Seoul and areas surrounding it, about 40 percent of the nation's total population. About 1,000 trucks deposit up to 18,000 tons of trash a day at the site. But while the garbage at landfills in many places throughout the world merely festers and stinks, in South Korea the government is making concerted efforts to profit from the mess.

"Almost 3,000 government officials representing about two dozen countries visit each year, hoping to find an energy solution to their countries' waste problems, based in part on the Korean model," said Park Young-lee, who previously guided a group of visitors through the Dream Park waste processing facility northwest of Incheon.

According to Park, who now serves as information officer for the SLC, or Sudokwon Landfill Site Management Corp., the company "hopes to schedule several events from the upcoming 2014 Asian Games at the landfill, including golf, horseback riding, swimming, and clay pigeon shooting."

Landfills are some of the biggest methane producers in the world. Methane is a greenhouse gas that heats up the atmosphere 21 times faster than C02. At present, SLC annually generates about US$30 million worth of electricity from that methane, which is sold to local power plants, according to the company's Web site and brochure.