Earning KRW 29.4 Billion with Household Waste!
(Published January 23, 2013)

The Gyeonggi Government Earns Additional Revenues by Selling Heat from Waste Incineration Plants

◇ Gyeonggi Province’s household-waste incineration facilities earned KRW 29.4 billion by selling the generated heat. An incineration plant in Hwaseong City ⓒ G-News Plus

Household waste incineration facilities, once considered unpleasant, are raking in extra cash in these times of high oil prices.

On January 23, Gyeonggi Province announced that the municipal government earned KRW 29.4 billion last year by selling heat generated from 23 household waste incineration plants generated from 1.2 million tons of waste.
 
The heat generated from Gyeonggi Province amounts to 2.56 million Gcal, of which 94.2% (i.e. 2.42 million Gcal) was sold as a source of heat for KRW 25 billion, while another KRW 3.8 billion was earned from generating electricity. This is almost three times the amount earned in 2005, when a mere KRW 10 billion was raised.

The crude oil import substitution effect resulting from these efforts comes to about 1.6 million barrels a year, which is worth USD 170 million per year based on current Dubai oil prices (USD 107 per barrel as of January 21). Furthermore, greenhouse gas emissions have been reduced by an estimated 678,289 tons, thereby alleviating pollution in the province.

Heat is collected from burning flammable waste in a furnace, which is then used to generate steam or electricity, or heat water.
 
The public’s perception of the incineration plants has been improved by investing their earnings in welfare. The swimming pool inside the plant and other sports and culture facilities are heated by energy purchased from the incineration plant for half the market price. This has been greatly appreciated by the public. There are plans to take the project a step further by offering subsidies on air conditioning bills to nearby residents, building welfare facilities, and providing school funds.
 
Park Seong-nam, Gyeonggi Province’s Resource Recycling Division Chief, said, “We must undo the negative preconception of the incineration plants, and to do so we must come up with positive ways of processing waste and producing green energy. I would like to ask our residents to help us by recycling more waste products.”
 
ⓒ G-News Plus News | Cheon Gyeong-nam chun0403@kg21.net

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