“폐기물 종료” 제도에 관한 검토

The establishment of resource circulation society system which restrains the consumption of resources and reduces the burden on the environment through the promotion of efficient use of resources and recycling of wastes has become the most important direction of today's waste management policy. From this perspective, ‘End-of-Waste’ system has been introduced, which enables wastes to be transformed into non-waste(second material or goods) and to be traded in the market. Our waste laws do not have any definite clause on this matter. But, it would be an excessive regulation and unnecessary barrier for the promotion of resource circulation if we impose legal controls for waste on the material which has been already processed and need not to be controlled as waste any more. So it would be desirable to introduce the ‘End-of-Waste’ into our legal system for waste management. And, to prevent any possible adverse effect, we need to make a clear rule on the condition and timing of ‘End-of-Waste’ in a law, and to provide specific criteria for each waste in the lower administrative regulations. In this thesis, the legislative cases of EU, Germany, France, United States, United Kingdom, and Japan have been studied comprehensively by comparative method to grasp the meaning of the ‘End-of-Waste’ and the necessity of introduction. And concrete scheme of introduction into our legal system, including legislative draft, has been presented. In making criteria for any material or object to get out of the strict regulation on the waste and to be managed as resource or good, the thorough consideration on the possibility of the harmful substances in the material or object to cause adverse impact on the human health and environment should be guaranteed in advance.