Ministry of Environment (South Korea)

Soil pollution is different from other environmental pollutions in that it is almost impossible to detect soil contamination by the eye, such pollution cannot be recognized until it has progressed to a certain level, and there is a long time delay between the pollution activity and the onset of damage. In addition, the effect of soil pollution is very long-lasting. Once soil is polluted, it is hard to remove the pollution as it takes a great deal of time and expense. Therefore, it is highly recommended that pollution source management be reinforced for the sake of human health by systematically controlling soil pollution and pursuing soil environment conservation policies such as a survey on and purification of areas susceptible to pollution and the promotion of the soil environmental industry.

Soil Creation Soil goes through 3 phases: solid, liquid and gas. The solid phase consists of inorganic material from stone weathering, dead bodies of animals and plants, and organic materials of living organisms. The liquid phase refers to soil water. The gas phase refers to soil air. Though soil comes from stone weathering, it takes various forms such as clay, silt, sand, and gravel, depending on the mineral compositions of rocks and metamorphic processes.

Soil Functions Soil performs numerous environmental functions, including flood prevention, water containment, water purification, landslide prevention, erosion prevention, pollutant filtering, regulation of surface temperature and humidity, and protection of living organisms and vegetation.

Soil Pollution Materials and Soil Pollution Standards 17 materials are designated as soil pollutants in Korea according to the Soil Environment Conservation Act, including cadmium, copper, arsenic, mercury, oil, and organic solvents. Each material is subject to 2 standards: one is a standard for possible soil pollution that represents a pollution level that could negatively affect people’s health and property and the growth of animals and plants; the other is for soil pollution countermeasures under which countermeasures should be taken against soil pollution whose level exceeds the possible soil pollution standard and which actually does harm to people’s health and property and the growth of animals and plants. Soil pollution standards classify soil by its various uses in accordance with the Cadastral Act. That is, farms and woodlands that are less likely to be polluted are classified as ‘Ga’ areas; factory sites, roads and railway sites that are more likely to be polluted are classified as ‘Na’ areas.

Domestic Soil Environment Management Policy Soil is mainly polluted by human activities, production activities in agriculture and manufacturing, the overuse of pesticides and fertilizers, mineral discharge from mining activities, heavy metals and noxious chemicals from industrial activities, waste reclamation, and the diffusion and falling of pollutants from the air. The efforts made by the government to manage soil and protect it from such pollution sources are as follows:

• To utilize soil pollution status and trends as basic data for establishing policies, the levels of pollution in the entire country have been continuously monitored. Currently, soil pollution surveys are done in two different ways: one is through networks that are operated by the Minister of Environment; the other is through soil pollution status surveys that are performed on behalf of mayors and provincial officers (the heads of Gun and the heads of Gu).
• Targets for special soil pollution management such as oil manufacturing and storage facilities whose capacity is bigger than 20,000 liters, noxious material manufacturers and storage facilities, and pipeline facilities must be reported to mayors, the head of Gun, and the head of Gu, and checked for soil pollution level inspection and leakage tests for the purpose of reinforcing the soil pollution preventive system.
• 5 major oil refining companies such as SK Co., Ltd., GS caltex Co., Ltd., and Hyundai Oilbank Co., Ltd. which handle more than 90% of the distributed oil in the country and Korea National Oil Corporation which possesses large-scale oil storage facilities have voluntarily signed an agreement to prevent soil pollution and restore degraded soil environment.
• Both general and detailed surveys on the soil pollution status of 936 deserted metal mines across the country have been executed since 1992. Related ministries and offices have carried out soil pollution prevention projects for mines in which contamination had been identified, such as the prevention of damage caused by mine-related pollution and improvement of farmland soil.
• 'Clean Gas Stations'which are equipped with dual-wall tanks, dual pipe lines, tanks and pumps have been designated to prevent soil pollution caused by facility corrosion, oil leakage from superannuated facilities, and overflowing.

This is a system that restricts the construction of restaurants, accommodations, spas, factories, and barns by establishing a certain section of a river as a buffer zone connecting the aquatic ecosystem and the terrestrial ecosystem for the purpose of securing a healthy aquatic ecosystem and clean water, and designating a Riparian Buffer Zone to form a Riparian Buffer Forest after buying lands near the waterside one by one, through agreements with residents.

Designated Riparian Buffer Zones For the Han River watershed, 255㎢ adjacent to Paldonghosu, Namhan River, Bukhan River, and Kyoungan stream was first designated as a Riparian Zone in September 1999. 3 successive changes have reduced its size to 191.3㎢. For the Nakdong River, Geum River, and Yeongsan River watershed, major dams and the land near stream flow and lakes, which were used as water source, were designated as Riparian Buffer Zones in Sep., 2003. For the Nakdong River watershed, 3 changes have been applied, making the designated area 339.9㎢. For the Geum River watershed, 3 changes have been applied, making the designated area 373.2㎢. For Yeongsan River watershed, 4 changes have been applied, making the designated area 295.6㎢.

However, the following areas were excluded from the Riparian Buffer Zones: Water source protection areas, development restriction areas, and military facility protection areas, which were already subject to other regulations; sewage disposal areas, anticipated sewage disposal areas, and city areas and settlement areas designated by the Utilization Management of the Land Act that had an existing environmental infrastructure; and natural villages above level 5 for Nakdong River and above level 10 for Geum River and Yeongsan River. For areas designated as Riparian Buffer Zones, new construction of pollution sources such as restaurants, accommodations, spas, apartment housing, factories and barns are prohibited. By 3 years after an area’s designation as a Riparian Buffer Zone, the existing pollution sources must discharge sewage only after it has been processed to BOD and SS levels below 10ppm.

To maintain public water quality at a level that is safe for human and animal health and for the growth of plants, pollution materials subject to management are designated according to the Act on Water Quality and Ecosystem Conservation. Currently, 40 kinds of organic materials, including copper, lead, nickel, and cyanogens, are designated as water pollutants. To manage water quality safety, heavy metals and phenols are designated as specific water pollution material.

An emission standard is one of the regulatory methods to achieve environmental standards, and restricts the concentration of discharge water from a discharging business. The standard is set with consideration given to environmental standards and purification capacity of a stream. The Act on Water Quality and Ecosystem Conservation applies wastewater emission standards to 29 items (e.g., organic materials, suspended solids, and phenols), and classifies the water quality of each watershed into 4 levels (Clean, Ga, Na, Special) for each region.

Organic material and suspended solids are handled differently according to the amount of wastewater discharged from a business. That is, considering the effect that it has on the stream, stricter emission standards are applied to a business that discharges wastewater in the amount of more than 2,000㎥/day than to smaller businesses, in order to incorporate a quantity regulation method as well as a concentration regulation method. Taking the capacity of wastewater processing facilities into account, special emission standards are applied to businesses whose wastewater flows into wastewater processing facilities in industrial complexes or agricultural/industrial complexes, within the range of possible operations.

Since 1997, emission standards regarding nitrogen and phosphorus materials have been applied to all businesses located at Paldang Lake, Daecheong Lake, Nakdong River and Nakdong Estuary watershed to prevent the eutrophication of lakes and marshes. All businesses in Korea have been subject to the same standards since 2003.

As the type and the amount of chemicals discharged from industries into the watershed have increased with the growth of chemical industry and the increase in international trade, pilot studies on the ecotoxicity of discharged water for fish (minnow), daphnia magna, and birds have taken place since 2002, to examine the toxicity effects of unknown harmful materials outside of emission standards items. The Act on Water Quality and Ecosystem Conservation was amended in November 2007 to adopt an integrated toxicity management system based on the result of this research. The amended act will be enacted in 2011.

Tele-Monitoring System (TMS) refers to a system that monitors the emission state of pollution materials on a 24-hour basis by creating an online connection between automatic measurement devices, which are attached to the discharging outlet of wastewater processing facilities and wastewater-producing businesses, and a remote water quality control center.

Operation Objective The objective is to prevent water pollution by managing and monitoring the quality of discharged water, while inducing each business to make efforts for production process improvement by analyzing and managing the water pollution level in different seasons, times and situations. In addition, a reasonable and objective effluent charge is determined in order to improve policy credibility by identifying the exact pollution level for each period of time. Finally, technical support and consultation for the establishment of control methods for the pollutants discharged by a business are provided, through the continuous assessment and analysis of the pollution level by the remote control of water quality.

Targets for TMS and Attachment Period

Food waste is generated from food products that are thrown away due to degradation in their quality, damage, rot or the passing of its expiration date, or a part of a cooked meal that is not eaten and thus is thrown away. Each local government has established different standards for the separation and discharge of food waste according to the status of disposal facilities in its region, such as whether it is possible to reutilize food waste as a resource.

Momentum for the Implementation of Food Waste Reduction As food waste, which belongs to household wastes, causes secondary environmental pollution such as the odor or sewage produced from landfill sites, the government established in July 1995 the ‘Committee for the Management of Food Waste’ which involves 8 central agencies, and this committee worked together to prepare measures for the handling of food waste. In 2002, with the Korea-Japan FIFA World Cup providing momentum for the establishment of an eco-friendly food consumption culture, the government pushed local governments, restaurant organizations, and civil organizations to establish a voluntary agreement for the reduction of food waste, and implemented it with a focus on the cities in which the football games of the World Cup were to be held. This voluntary agreement has been applied to the entire country since 2003.

The government has been working with civil organizations since 2002 to develop an educational program that can help to foster a culture that encourages the reduction of food waste. Major projects included holding “The day of no food waste” every Wednesday, “Designating Eco-Friendly Restaurant” and launching a “Plates with No Food Left” campaign. Advertisements for food waste reduction have been broadcast on TV, radio, and electric billboards, and a cartoon was produced and distributed to elementary schools across the country to familiarize children with the concept of food waste reduction. It is considered that these activities have helped to inspire a culture of food waste reduction among the people of Korea.

Results of Public Awareness Campaign for Food Waste Reduction

As a result of the public awareness campaign for food waste reduction, the amount of daily food waste in 2006 was at 13,372 tons and accounted for 27.4% of the total amount of daily households waste (48,844 tons), which is still a relatively high percentage yet shows a downward trend compared with 29.1% in 1996.

However, as food waste that was discharged separately from other wastes increased following the prohibition of direct food waste landfill (January 1, 2005), and the consumption of fruits and vegetables increased due to the trend of healthy lifestyle, it turned out that the amount of food waste produced in 2006 increased significantly.

Therefore, the government began to provide funds (30% of the total funds required) to establish public disposal facilities that transform food waste into feed for poultry, compost and bio-mass, and has been promoting the cooperation and participation of citizens to establish a culture of resource recycling in Korean society.

The waste charge system is a system that charges the manufacturer of the product part of the cost involved in disposing of a product that contains hazardous materials or that is not easy to recycle and may cause problems in waste management, in order to restrict waste generation and prevent the wasteful use of resources.

Purpose of Waste Charge System The waste charge system is intended to reduce the production of waste from the manufacturing stage and promote the efficient disposal of waste in consideration of the environmental impacts of a product.

Items to which Waste Charges are Applied The items on which waste charges are imposed include insecticides, containers of toxic chemicals, antifreeze, chewing gum, disposable diapers, cigarettes, and plastic products

Use of Waste Charges Waste charges are used for the research and development of technology to reduce the weight of waste and recycle waste, the installation of waste disposal facilities, financing for waste recycling projects, financial support for local governments to collect and recycle waste, and the purchase and storage of recyclable resources.