President Seo Joo-won of Sudokwon Landfill Site Management Corp.(SLC), 2nd L, joins other heads of state-run corporations in swearing before the parliamentary audit of the National Assembly held on Oct. 14 in Yeouido, Seoul. (Photo: National Assembly of the Republic of Korea)

President Seo Joo-won of Sudokwon Landfill Site Management Corp. (SLC) said he was extremely honored to address the Parliamentary Audit of Administration and State-run Corporations.

President Seo Joo-won said SLC has been working on four main areas this year under a vision to be a professional organization working for environmentally friendly resource circulation that people and nature jointly produce.

Seo made the remarks in front of the Parliamentary Audit Committee of Administration and State-run Corporations.

The first project under the vision is to build a base for a safely taking care of disposed materials in the Sudokwon area. SLC has to create a sustainable new idea to build environment-friendly hygienic landfill sites. SLC has to also set up a pleasant and safe landfill management system.

SLC has been working on the circulation of energy created from waste resources to realize a “resources circulation society.” The company has to build a resources circulation system for environmentally friendly landfills. The company also has to make the production of energy resources and management the facilities highly effective.

SLC must lead social value at the center of people’s trust, as well as making contributions to regional society by managing the landfills safe.

The company also would have to set up its cooperative and mutual survival tieups with regional society thru communication.

SLC should find new growth engines through the development of new technologies, Seo said. The company has to study resources in a circular manner, strengthen its technologies, and share them externally and internally. SLC has to explore the global environmental market and lead the moves to study climate change.

The first task for the company is to secure a base to take care of the waste in Sudokwon in a stable manner. In order to do that, the company has to build environmentally friendly, sustainable new ideas. The waste should be buried separately based on their characteristics so that the company may be able to run “clean and pure landfills.”

The non-discharge system made with the fusion of the leachate recirculation, and the elimination of salt technology should be built. The third landfill area is nearing completion, opening the way for stable disposal of the waste.

The second task is the settlement of a safe landfill site management system. The integrated management system to cope with climate change, and lead to the formation of a pleasant local environment. A preemptive disaster safety management strategy geared toward prevention is essential, Seo said.

He added that waste management issues caused by rapid economic development and industrialization is one of the biggest environmental challenges that all countries must resolve.

SLC has been operating and managing the landfill in an eco-friendly manner, and making a “Dreampark,” which is the best environmental tourism attraction, he said. In 2006, SLC established a department of overseas project to meet the needs of technical support from developing countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America that are currently benchmarking Sudokwon landfill and Korea.

Overseas projects got started with participating in feasibility studies for construction of solid waste treatment facilities in Punjab, Pakistan as a collaborative work with KOICA and World Bank, the CEO said.

With these efforts, the number of visitors to SLC, public officials and environmental professionals from overseas, is increasing. Activities and efforts of SLC regarding eco-friendly waste management and energy town are well known, not only in the domestic market, but also overseas.