Problems relating to the new guidelines about the proper disposal of food garbage which took effect with the New Year do not appear ready to resolve themselves very easily. That is not just because of inadequate publicity about the new guidelines, but the Ministry of the Environment's policy on the issue is itself turning out to have problems. It was already decided back in 1997 that the country would stop burying food wastes and use turn them into usable resources. It is just shocking to see that despite 7 years to make all the proper preparations those preparations were still lacking. The current "garbage confusion" has to be seen as an opportunity to revamp the relevant policy and make it work smoothly. It would not be right to delay the prohibition on burying food garbage or turn back on that policy just because there have been problems. It will soon be spring and then be summer, and the problem of food waste could really turn serious. Measures to deal with the problems must be taken swiftly.
What first must be remembered is that many around the country have already been diligent doing the proper separation of food waste for years. Some 80 percent of Korea's food resources are imported, and yet the country produces a lot of food waste, costing W15 trillion to deal with each year. The policy about separating garbage by classification was designed to reduce food garbage to the greatest degree possible and to be something of a period to prepare for recycling it to use as usable resources. The next step is for the national and regional governments to find the most rational uses for recycled food garbage.
The most central program in the Environment Ministry's food waste policy is the creation of animal feed. Fish bones, sea shells, nut shells, and peach seeds are being picked out of the garbage precisely to turn the waste into feed. Even if feed is produced after a complicated process, the problem remains that it tends to be too salty and that it rots too easily. The ministry needs to reconsider the way its policy is almost exclusively about reuse as animal feed. Policy needs to be diversified to include methods such as the creation of compost using worms and the facultative anaerobic bacteria method, and the ministry needs to help local governments figure out which methods are right for their situations.
The goal is to reduce the amount of food waste the country produces and to reuse it as much as possible. Making that a realistic possibility will require the whole process be less of an inconvenience for the public.
The Hankyoreh, 17 January 2005.
[Translations by Seoul Selection (PMS)]
[Editorial] More Diverse Uses for Recycled Food Waste Needed |
