Design of economical solid waste management system in Seoul, Korea

Abstract

Seoul, the capital city of the Republic of Korea, covers an area of about 630 km, and has a population of approximately ten million people. The recent rapid economic development accompanying expanded industrialization, urbanization, and population growth has intensified the environmental pollution problem caused by the enormous generation of municipal solid wastes. With the incentive of the 1988 Olympic Games being held in the city, the establishment of the rational municipal solid waste management system has become an urgent and important issue of modern city planning to improve the living environment. Prevailing solid waste management system in Seoul comprises handcart collection system, manual transfer stations, and final open dumping. Accordingly, unaesthetic appearance and unsanitary conditions are inevitable results, which create a demand for an appropriate management from generation to final disposal. In this research, existing management practices as well as the proposed alternatives were evaluated. Systematic approaches were applied to determine the optimal location and size of the processing facilities for the long-term planning.