Gyeonggi Province's Ansan City (Mayor Lee Mingeun) has launched the expansion of its resource recovery facility and recyclable materials sorting center, aiming to raise the resource recovery facility's daily processing capacity from the current 200 tons to 360 tons in phases, in order to strengthen its self-processing capability and cope with the processing pressure brought by the ban on direct landfill of household waste in the capital region.

Key Points

  • Ansan generates about 526 tons of household waste per day.
  • The recyclable materials sorting center receives about 24,000 tons of recyclables annually, exceeding its processing capacity of 18,600 tons by about 5,400 tons.
  • The resource recovery facility's daily processing capacity is planned to increase gradually from 200 tons to 360 tons.

According to a notice released by Ansan City on October 1, the city held an on-site cadres' meeting at the resource recovery facility on September 30, attended by Mayor Lee Mingeun, the deputy mayor and key officials, to review the current state of waste processing and resource recycling policies. The meeting covered topics including the generation and processing of household waste, the facility expansion plan, the establishment of a warehouse for dedicated garbage metering fee bags, and waste reduction measures. After the meeting, the participants inspected the transfer processing facility and the recyclable materials sorting center to learn about the entire process and operation of waste from reception to sorting and processing.

Data shows that Ansan's recyclable materials sorting center currently receives about 24,000 tons of recyclables annually, while its processing capacity is only 18,600 tons, with the received volume exceeding the processing capacity by about 5,400 tons, creating an obvious capacity gap. At the same time, the city generates about 526 tons of household waste per day. This expansion is precisely to respond to changes in the waste processing environment, such as the ban on direct landfill of household waste in the capital region.

  • Policy trigger: The capital region implements a rule banning direct landfill of household waste.
  • Supporting facility content: Discussion of setting up a warehouse for dedicated garbage metering fee bags.

In addition to expanding the facility, Ansan City also plans to promote correct waste sorting and disposal methods, expand resource recycling activities with citizen participation, and improve the waste disposal and collection system, so as to reduce waste at the source while expanding processing capacity.

Mayor Lee Mingeun said that while establishing a stable waste processing system, it is equally important to reduce waste generation and build a resource reuse mechanism; the municipal government will expand necessary facilities in phases and promote daily practices by citizens and institutional improvements, with the goal of building a sustainable resource-circulating city.

For industry observers following waste sorting, recyclable materials sorting and urban solid waste processing capacity building, Ansan's case provides a set of reference data samples: the long-term excess of regional recyclable reception volume over sorting capacity is the direct motivation for this round of local government efforts to promote plant expansion and front-end sorting support.

Source: Ansan City promotes increasing resource recovery facility daily processing capacity from 200 tons to 360 tons - Asia Economy · Originally published on 2026-10-01