8. Development of the waste recycling industry
8.1 The recycling industry is the foundation of a sustainable society that
uses resource-circulating. Owing to the introduction of the Volume-based
Waste Fee System and the Extended Producer Responsibility System, the
resource-recycling businesses in South Korea have been growing rapidly. The
number of recycling companies in the nation increased rapidly from 1 647 in
1999 to 4 375 in 2009, employing a total of 52 000 people
. The government's
financial support has lent particular support to the growth of the recycling
industry in South Korea. The Ministry of Environment provides long-term
low interest loans to small recycling businesses for the development of
recycling facilities and technologies
. New recycling businesses are provided
with consultations from business initiation experts to facilitate their start-up
work.
8.2 As part of the green growth initiatives, the South Korean Government
had allocated a total of 930 billion Korean won (around HK$6.6 billion) for
investment in projects relating to recycling of waste resources from 2009 to
2012, which was estimated to be able to create about 16 196 new jobs in the
industry
. To promote the use of green products, policies are also in place to
mandate the national and local governments and government-related public
institutions to purchase environmentally-friendly products (including recycled
products) through the enactment of the Act on the Encouragement of Purchase
of Environment-friendly Products in 2005. Every year, the Ministry of
Environment issues guidelines to public agencies when they establish and
implement their purchasing plans.