City says modernization is the priority but has not ruled out selecting a new location; Mapo-gu pushes back, demanding any facility upgrade serve only the three northwestern districts

Residents of Mapo-gu stage a rally in October 2022 in front of Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon's then-home in Gwangjin-gu to protest the construction of a metropolitan waste-to-energy facility. [Yonhap]
Residents of Mapo-gu stage a rally in October 2022 in front of Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon's then-home in Gwangjin-gu to protest the construction of a metropolitan waste-to-energy facility. [Yonhap]

The Seoul Metropolitan Government has been conducting a technical assessment of the Mapo waste-to-energy facility since July, it has been confirmed. While the city says it intends to pursue modernization of the facility, officials have indicated they have not ruled out building an entirely new one, depending on the assessment's findings. Mapo-gu has responded with strong opposition.

A senior Seoul city official said Saturday that the city could not give a clear answer on whether Mapo-gu would be excluded from consideration for a new facility site. "The current direction is weighted toward modernization and expansion, but that does not mean we have ruled out introducing a new facility or selecting a new site to achieve large-capacity expansion," the official said in a phone interview. The official doubled down, adding that "the conclusion will follow from the results of the technical assessment."

Asked whether pursuing new construction again would be legally permissible, the official said the court had found procedural flaws in the site-selection process — not that the entire project was invalid. "We just need to go through the procedures again, including reconvening a site-selection committee," the official said.

The official is understood to have made similar remarks at a relevant standing committee meeting of the Seoul Metropolitan Council earlier this month. A separate city official, asked whether Mapo-gu would not be excluded from any new site-selection process, said: "We cannot limit consideration to 24 of the 25 autonomous districts by leaving Mapo out."

The technical assessment follows the Ministry of Environment's directive on technical assessments of public environmental facilities, which requires waste treatment facilities — including incinerators, landfills and food-waste processing plants — operated by local governments to undergo assessment every five years. The Yangcheon waste-to-energy facility completed its assessment in June 2022, while the Gangnam and Nowon facilities wrapped up theirs in March this year. The city says it will determine the direction — modernization, expansion or new construction — based on the results of the Mapo facility's assessment, which is expected to be completed in the first half of next year.

Seoul has four metropolitan waste-to-energy facilities — in Gangnam, Nowon, Mapo and Yangcheon — but all are aging. Guidelines issued by the Ministry of Climate, Environment and Energy recommend a service life of 15 years for incinerators, a threshold all four facilities have already exceeded. The Mapo facility was completed in 2005, Yangcheon in 1996, Gangnam in 1999 and Nowon in 1997.

The city had been pushing to build a 1,000-ton metropolitan waste-to-energy facility in Sangam-dong, Mapo-gu. Residents filed a lawsuit challenging the establishment and composition of the site-selection committee formed in 2020, citing procedural defects. A court ruled in the residents' favor in January last year. An appeals court upheld that ruling in February this year, also finding flaws in the composition of the site-selection committee and in the feasibility study process.

Ultimately, on March 3, the city issued a reference document titled "Priority pursuit of modernization and efficient use of the Mapo waste-to-energy facility," announcing it would bring the legal proceedings related to the Mapo facility to a close. In the document, the city said it had "comprehensively reviewed" Mapo-gu's request to drop the appeal and other factors, and had "decided to prioritize the modernization and efficient use of existing waste-to-energy facilities" over the new construction project. It added that it would "pursue the modernization and efficient use of the Mapo waste-to-energy facility, which has been in operation for more than 20 years."

The city also said it planned to "introduce the latest eco-friendly technology through modernization to minimize pollutant emissions and improve the local environment," and that it would "work with Mapo-gu and resident representatives through ongoing discussions to develop specific plans for the efficient use of the facility."

A city official said the March document meant the city would no longer proceed with the specific legal process it had been pursuing at the time — not that all options were off the table.

Mapo-gu has pushed back sharply, accusing the city of reversing its position. Mapo-gu District Mayor Yoo Dong-gyun said at a press conference Tuesday that the city must clearly state its stance on both new construction and modernization of existing facilities, given that its recent statements contradict what it announced just months ago. He added that Mapo-gu also recognized the need to improve the existing facility's safety and environmental performance, but said the district would formally request that any such improvements be pursued on the premise that the facility would serve the three districts of Mapo, Eunpyeong and Seodaemun.


cook@heraldcorp.com