The Ministry of Environment announced on the 1st that more than 95% of the disaster waste generated from wildfires in Ulsan, Gyeongbuk, and Gyeongnam this March has been processed.
According to the Ministry of Environment, the disaster waste generated from the wildfires, which completely or partially burned dwellings, commercial buildings, and agricultural warehouses, amounted to 743,000 tons, and as of the end of last month, 711,000 tons of it has been processed.
By region, the processing rates are ▲ Ulsan Metropolitan City (Ulju) 100% (0.08 thousand tons) ▲ Gyeongsangbuk-do 95% (70.4 thousand tons out of 737 thousand tons) ▲ Gyeongsangnam-do 100% (0.6 thousand tons).
This processing of disaster waste was carried out two months after the wildfire recovery plan was finalized at the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters on the 2nd.
In this process, the Ministry of Environment provided 142 billion won in national funds, including a supplementary budget of 11.2 billion won, to the affected local governments. Additionally, it managed the status of contract signing for commissioned services, which was the main cause of delays in processing disaster waste, to facilitate contract agreements.
Environmental offices under the Ministry of Environment and Gyeongsangbuk-do checked the sites for collection, transportation, and processing of wildfire waste weekly, managing processing results to prevent delays.
The Ministry of Environment and local governments plan to promptly process the remaining disaster waste of about 30,000 tons (approximately 5% of the total) from dwellings and small factories affected by wildfires as soon as their demolition is completed.
Kim Go-eung, director of the Ministry of Environment's Resource Circulation Bureau, noted, "We will do our best to manage waste from summer floods to prevent processing delays and secondary environmental damage."