As part of a project launched in 2015, the district office considered the idea to be a three-pronged approach: it would reduce the amount of dead vegetation requiring disposal, reduce the costs associated with incinerating dead leaves, and generate fertilizing materials for the agricultural community. (Image: Yonhap)
SEOUL, Dec. 5 (Korea Bizwire) – Until last year, Seoul’s Yeongdeungpo District collected the fallen leaves on the ground and converted them into compost.
As part of a project launched in 2015, the district office considered the idea to be a three-pronged approach: it would reduce the amount of dead vegetation requiring disposal, reduce the costs associated with incinerating dead leaves, and generate fertilizing materials for the agricultural community.
However, after just two years, fallen leaves are once again making their way straight to the fire.
An official from the district office explained, “The compost is created after the leaves are sifted out, but farmers have been vociferous in their complaints that [the compost] has garbage mixed into it.”
With demand for the fertilizing material completely nonexistent, the district has reverted back to its initial method of dealing with dead leaves.
Once considered a boon to the local community for creating jobs, dead leaves are now considered little more than a nuisance.
Once considered a boon to the local community for creating jobs, dead leaves are now considered little more than a nuisance. (Image: Yonhap)
Yeongdeungpo is not the only area to have tried and failed in its “kill three birds with one stone” approach.
In 2013, the city of Jecheon in North Chungcheong Province rolled out a purchasing policy for sacks of dead leaves that for a time became a model for other municipalities. Paying out 1,500 won per 5kg sack, the city converted the detritus into compost and distributed it to city-operated flower farms. Other municipal administrators came knocking on the city’s door as word spread of low-income job creation flowing from the dead leaves composting business.
However, trouble soon emerged in the form of unscrupulous behavior among certain citizens. Attempting to flout the city rule that limited each individual to a maximum monthly payout of 1.5 million won, these individuals would borrow family members’, friends’ and relatives’ identities to bypass the restrictions in place. In addition, some began to replace dead leaves with garbage, driving up the city’s cost of sifting through the leaves.
The city eventually waved the white flag in 2015, putting a halt to its operations.
The presence of garbage is a problem that was partially responsible for the stoppage of a similar dead leaves to compost initiative in the city of Cheongju. As well as the problem of sorting out the refuse amongst the dead leaves, the city bowed to criticism that the waste did not make good quality compost, closing down the program after three years.
Though some municipalities collect and distribute dead leaves from parks and other areas with a lower human presence and thus less garbage, the lack of sufficient manpower for these tasks has ensured that these municipalities remain few in number.
S.B.W. (sbw266@koreabizwire.com)
