A truck tows plastic recyclable waste at a resource circulation center in Suwon, Gyeonggi, on Sept. 4.YONHAP
The Korean government plans to reform how it measures recycling rates, responding to claims that counting incinerated plastic as recycled has effectively been "greenwashing."
The Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment is preparing to revamp its recycling classification system to bring the country's waste statistics in line with international practices and expand material recycling, according to data the ministry submitted to Democratic Party lawmaker Lee Yong-woo.
The ministry held a kickoff meeting for a related policy study on Tuesday and will also operate a forum consisting of five subcommittees to gather opinions.
At the heart of the overhaul is a proposal to remove thermal recycling, in which waste is burned to recover heat energy, from the recycling category. Under the current system, waste sent to facilities such as cement kilns and paper mill incinerators is counted as recycled if heat energy is recovered after it is burned.
Critics say the standard creates the illusion of a high recycling rate. In 2024, 65 percent of plastic waste was classified as recycled, but only 26 percent was actually recycled into materials. A larger share, 38 percent, was burned for energy recovery. Chemical recycling, in which plastic waste is converted into raw materials, accounted for 1 percent.
The broad definition of recycling also means that, aside from separately discarded household recyclables, much of the country’s waste is directed to thermal recycling facilities, where it is easier to process.
Companies that send waste to cement plants for thermal recycling are exempt from waste disposal charges, which gives them an incentive to choose the easier route. Only 6.2 percent of plastic waste discarded with other trash in volume-based waste bags was recycled into materials. In Korea, a volume-based, or pay-as-you-throw, policy requires people to buy designated garbage bags for their general waste.
Workers sort recyclable waste at a recycling sorting facility in Dobong District, northern Seoul, on Jan. 26.YONHAP
The European Union, the United States and Japan, by contrast, do not classify thermal recycling as recycling, and instead reflect an emphasis on increasing material recycling rates.
“In Europe, recycling and energy recovery are classified separately, and targets are set only for recycling,” said Hong Su-yeol, director of the Resource Recycling Society Economy Research Institute. “That means the goal of circular economy policy is to increase recycling.”
The ministry is considering dividing waste treatment into three categories: material recycling, including chemical recycling; recovery through incineration with heat recovery; and disposal through incineration without energy recovery or landfill. Under the proposal, thermal recycling would be removed from the recycling category and placed under a newly created “recovery” category.
The ministry also intends to expand and strengthen requirements for the use of recycled raw materials to redirect waste currently used for thermal recycling toward material recycling.
“We aim to draw up measures to improve the system and draft revisions to related laws by April next year,” a ministry official said. “Because so many stakeholders would be affected by changes to the recycling criteria, further discussions are needed on when the new system would actually take effect.”
Recyclable waste is being sorted at a recycling sorting facility in Dobong District, northern Seoul, on Jan. 26.NEWS1
Critics have also called for eliminating distortions within material recycling statistics themselves. The National Assembly Research Service recently said in a report that Korea’s recycling performance is assessed largely based on the amount of waste entering treatment facilities. This means recycling results can appear high even when large quantities of residual waste are generated.
“A ‘greenwashing’ problem persists because recycling performance is counted as high even when large amounts of residual waste are generated, as recycling results are assessed primarily based on the amount entering treatment facilities,” the report said.
A source at a recycling company also said that “30 percent” remains as residual waste after the sorting process, despite waste being separately discarded at apartment complexes.
“With the current waste statistics, it is difficult to determine how much material is actually reused,” Rep. Lee said. “The system should be improved so we can track how much waste plastic entering recycling facilities is actually turned into raw materials or products, how much residual waste remains and where that residual waste ultimately goes.”
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
