South Korea proposes five subordinate regulations for fully renewed Circular Economy Transition Act

On January 24, 2024, the Ministry of Environment (MOE) of South Korea announced that, in accordance with the full revision of the pre-existing Framework Act on Resources Circulation into the Act on Promotion of Transition to a Circular Economy Society (hereinafter “Circular Economy Act” or “the Act”), which becomes effective on January 1, 2024, it has formulated five draft subordinate regulations that define the details of the Circular Economy Act. The core of the Circular Economy Act consists of the Circular Resource Certification Program, in which waste that is certified as a circular resource under the Act is not considered waste and is therefore exempted from waste-related regulations.

These five draft regulations aim to define details of the Circular Resource Certification Program under the Circular Economy Act, such as standards and purpose of use of circular resources, standards for hazardous substances, procedures and methods for certification of circular resources, and methods and procedures for displaying circular resource quality labels.

Overview of the Circular Resource Certification Program

• When waste from a business site is certified as a “circular resource” as defined in the Circular Economy Act, that waste is not considered as waste.
• Waste that has been certified as a circular resource means that it is not hazardous in its discharge, transportation, storage, treatment or use, and is therefore no longer regulated by the Wastes Control Act and is exempted from waste-related regulations.
• This program is voluntary, not mandatory. Any business site that disposes of any of the business site wastes defined in the Wastes Control Act may apply for this certification on a voluntary basis.
• When a business site applies for certification, it must meet certification criteria, such as hazardous substance content standards, and undergo on-site inspection and expert consultation. A decision is then made as to whether or not the applicant should be granted certification.
• Any business site that disposes of business site waste by incineration or landfill that could otherwise be used as a circular resource will be charged a Waste Disposal Fee. Such a site must submit materials annually to the Ministry of Environment, including data on the amount disposed of by incineration and/or landfill in the previous fiscal year.

Summary of the five new or revised regulations proposed by MOE:

MOE intends to solicit comments from the public on these five proposed regulations through to February 15, 2024, and then forward them to the Ministry of Government Legislation and the National Assembly for review and promulgation.