By: Gyu Jae Lee, KGGTF 2025 Youth Intern
On Tuesday, February 4, 2025, the KGGTF Youth Internship Program visited the Sudokwon Landfill Site Management Corporation (SLC) in Incheon Metropolitan City. During this two-hour visit, participants observed the landscaping, development process, and operations of the landfill.
Introduction to Sudokwon Landfill Site Management Corporation
The Sudokwon Landfill Site Management Corporation was established to efficiently manage waste generated from Seoul, Incheon and Gyeonggi Province while minimizing environmental impacts. The Landfill Site was opened in 1992 and the corporation was founded to operate and manage it. Its primary objectives include ensuring the stable disposal of waste, promoting resource circulation, protecting the environment and establishing a sustainable waste management system. As the largest landfill in South Korea, it implements eco-friendly measures such as utilizing landfill gas for renewable energy production, conducting waste recycling projects and creating green spaces.
The Landfill Site operates three landfill sections (1st to 3rd). As the landfill's capacity gradually decreases, the government is working to reduce landfill volume, secure alternative sites, while also strengthening resource circulation to transition away from direct landfilling by increasing waste incineration and recycling.
Additionally, the SLC is making efforts to improve the perception of landfill facilities by implementing resident support projects to enhance the environment of the surrounding areas. The already-completed first landfill section has been transformed into a golf course called ‘Dream Park Country Club.’ An area that was once used to store coal ash has been restored into the ‘Dream Park Wildflower Garden.’ The Country Club was used as an official golf course for the Incheon Asian Games in 2014 and offers discounts to local residents. The corporation also hosts photography contests featuring images of the wildflower garden. The manager also mentioned how “through these endeavors, we try to let people acknowledge that the landfill site is more than just a place to store trash.” Landfill site is acting as a buffer zone to foster harmony with the local community and achieving sustainability.
Landfill Structure and Environmental Management
The landfill itself was created on reclaimed land, meaning that instead of downward landfilling, waste is stacked upward. Therefore, the landfill layers are formed horizontally with each layer covered with soil to enhance stability and help suppress the odor.
Whenever wastes are stacked, two major pollutants are generated: leachate and landfill gas. Rather than discharging these pollutants into the sea or releasing them into the atmosphere, the SLC recycles them into renewable energy. The leachate, after treated, is ultimately reused as cooling water for power generation as well as for landscaping and cleaning purposes. Landfill gas is also repurposed as heating energy for greenhouses located within the landfill site.
Greenhouse Utilization and Reforestation Efforts
The last stop of the visit was one of the 20 greenhouses managed by the corporation by utilizing landfill gas as a renewable energy. The corporation is currently using these greenhouses to promote green forest creation projects. Since the Sudokwon Landfill Site was established on reclaimed land, many trees struggle to survive due to the high salinity in the soil. As a result, the corporation is cultivating trees that can withstand saline soil in its own greenhouses and using them for greening efforts within the landfill.
Finally, based on its experience in landfill site establishment and operations, the SLC is actively engaging in knowledge-sharing programs focused on greenhouse gas reduction projects. Through business agreements, it is supporting the sustainable development of developing countries while continuing efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
