South Korea to revise Waste Management Act 
On July 30, 2025, the Ministry of Environment (MOE) of South Korea issued a preliminary legislative notice proposing partial amendments to the Presidential Decree and Enforcement Rules of the Waste Management Act, with a 40-day public consultation period starting on July 31. The major amendments include clarifying the scope of mandatory post-closure management (i.e., management of landfill sites after closure), expanding the types of waste that may be handled at temporary storage facilities, extending the storage period for imported waste, and rationalizing rules on waste collection and transportation. These amendments reflect issues and improvement requests raised by the waste and resource circulation sector. The key amendments are summarized below.
The original Korean text of this article is available via the link below (in Korean):
Original press release by the Ministry of Environment
https://www.me.go.kr/home/web/board/read.do?pagerOffset=20&maxPageItems=10&maxIndexPages=10&searchKey=&searchValue=&menuId=10525&orgCd=&boardId=1756440&boardMasterId=1&boardCategoryId=&decorator=
Presidential Decree of the Waste Management Act (Presidential Decree No. 35274)
https://www.law.go.kr/lsInfoP.do?lsiSeq=269115&ancYd=20250218&ancNo=35274&efYd=20250807&nwJoYnInfo=Y&efGubun=Y&chrClsCd=010202&ancYnChk=0#0000
Enforcement Rules of the Waste Management Act (MOE Decree No. 1184)
https://www.law.go.kr/LSW//lsInfoP.do?lsId=008567&ancYnChk=0#0000
Clarification of post-closure management requirements for landfill facilities
Under the current legislation, certain facilities that landfill briquette ash, coal ash, or other waste with low risk of environmental contamination from leachate are exempt from post-closure management. However, due to unclear approval criteria, such facilities are still subject to post-closure obligations, similar to general landfill sites. This means that even if companies seek to install solar power plants or LNG power facilities on closed landfill sites, they are still required to comply with leachate treatment and environmental survey obligations, restricting land use. The draft amendments establish specific criteria and procedures under which facilities may be excluded from post-closure management obligations, including cases where there are no environmental law violations or no concerns of pollution.
Expansion of eligible waste for temporary storage facilities
Animal by-products (such as fats) generated during livestock processing are prone to decay, require specialized handling, and recycling plants are not widely distributed. Transporting such materials directly to recyclers is therefore not always feasible. In practice, they often need to be collected at an intermediate point, transferred to another vehicle, and then delivered to recyclers. Consolidating waste at temporary storage facilities and transporting it in bulk with larger vehicles can improve efficiency and reduce costs. The draft amendments expand the types of waste allowed for storage at temporary facilities to include animal by-products and recyclable resources.
Extension of storage period for wastes imported as raw materials
To secure stable supplies of critical resources such as copper and lithium and promote recycling amid increasing supply chain uncertainties caused by export restrictions and trade regulations, the draft extends the maximum storage period for waste imported as raw materials for manufacturing from the current 30 days to 180 days. Previously, recyclers complied with the 30-day storage limit by clearing only part of their imported waste through customs in line with recycling schedules, while leaving the remainder on cargo ships, which incurred additional storage costs. The extension to 180 days is expected to resolve this problem.
Rationalization of collection and transportation regulations
To prevent improper waste treatment, current rules allow only registered vehicles to transport waste. This has resulted in restrictions on the number of temporary vehicles that can be used even during peak construction or dredging seasons. Recently, however, a real-time monitoring system has been introduced for waste collection and transport vehicles, enabling the authorities to track waste movements. In light of this, the draft amendments remove the provision limiting the number of temporary vehicles (up to twice the number of registered vehicles), thereby rationalizing the rules. Additionally, recyclers that handle only discharged EV batteries (including modules and cells) will no longer be required to install discharging equipment as part of mandatory facility requirements. The draft also relaxes certain rigid and overly strict requirements by, for example, allowing extensions of storage periods for medical waste during long holidays.
