폐기물 관련 법체계와 자원순환기본법의 제정필요성

The current Korean laws on wastes and circulation of resources have not been enacted with a clear advance insight into the issues involving waste management and circulation, but been formulated from time to time in accordance with the changes in our society through amendments and revisions. Such a process resulted in disintegrated waste laws and a conflict among the relevant laws. Moreover, it has caused the relevant agencies to develop different views and responses to the same issues, producing an obstacle to the systematic and integrated resource management. As such, there is a strong need for the enactment of resource management laws to resolve issues regarding wastes and resources to cope with our resource circulation society. It should be noted that there have been several attempts by the National Assembly and some executive agencies to enact such laws. These attempts were not successful due to the conflict of interests among interested parties. On the other hand, of course, one can still attempt to resolve the above problem with the improvements on the current laws; it appears that such attempts will not be successful given the past history and the structure of the current systems. Accordingly, the enactment of a comprehensive basic law is clearly called for in light of the above. The basic law on resource recycling will function as the foundation law for preexisting waste laws, set forth the general provisions and basic framework, and be used as a roadmap for the national policies on resource management. As such, the legal system on wastes and circulation will be modified as follows. At the basic level, we will have the Basic Law on Resource Circulation, and the general laws like “Resource Recycling Laws” and “Waste Management Laws.” On top of these basic law and general laws, we will have specific laws like “Construction Waste Recycling Laws,” “Food Waste Recycling Laws,” and “Electrical, Electronic, and Automobile Recycling Laws.”