Suwon City in Gyeonggi Province has unveiled plans for a new waste treatment facility to replace the aging resource recovery facility in Yeongtong-gu, which has been in operation for 25 years. The new facility will have all waste treatment equipment underground, while the aboveground area will be developed into an indoor sports hall with a swimming pool and a park.
The city announced on the 17th that it has recently amended the design of its preliminary investigative service for selecting a new site for the resource recovery facility relocation. The newly added tasks include plans for the undergrounding of waste treatment equipment, the mixed-use development of aboveground space, the establishment of a multipurpose gymnasium, and the expansion of expert consultations in various fields.
The initial deadline for the service, originally set for March this year, has been extended by nine months to December. The facility blueprint includes a sports hall, fountains and a water park, outdoor sports facilities, and a park with trails above the underground equipment. The specifics of the benefit facilities will be decided based on a public competition and survey to gather citizens’ opinions. No location for the facility has been determined yet.
The Suwon Resource Recovery Facility relocation project involves constructing a new facility to replace the existing one in Yeongtong 1-dong, with total project costs estimated at around 400 billion won, depending on the site’s location. Facing difficulties in selecting a replacement site after three rounds of site candidate contests in 2023 ended unsuccessfully, the city initiated its own site discovery through a preliminary investigation service last March.
After the service concludes, the city plans to form a site selection committee with representatives from candidate site residents, conduct feasibility studies, hold public hearings, and perform strategic environmental assessments, with the goal of completing the new resource recovery facility by 2032. In addition to relocating the facility, the city is also working on improving the existing one. This aims to prevent a waste crisis in line with the ‘ban on direct landfilling of waste’ policy, set to take effect in January next year, by choosing a project implementer by the first half of this year and completing construction by the first half of 2028.
A city official stated, “This change in the service design marks the first step towards creating a ‘resource recovery facility that benefits citizens,’ and we aim to find the optimal site and complete the safest facility based on the two principles of ‘minimizing environmental impact’ and ‘maximizing citizen benefits.'”