South Korea recycles about 59% of household waste — nearly 3 times Japan's rate

South Korea recycles the bulk of its waste, while Japan relies primarily on incineration, according to a joint study released Monday.

South Korea's National Institute of Environmental Research announced Monday that it had conducted joint research with Japan's National Institute for Environmental Studies and published a report documenting waste generation and recycling trends in the two countries.

South Korea's per capita daily municipal solid waste generation rose from 0.95 kilograms in 2014 to 1.20 kilograms in 2022, before edging down slightly to 1.17 kilograms in 2023.

Japan, by contrast, saw a steady decline over the same period, with per capita daily output falling from 0.95 kilograms in 2014 to 0.85 kilograms in 2023.

Total municipal waste generation was higher in Japan, reflecting its larger population. Japan produced 39 million tons in 2023 compared with South Korea's 22.4 million tons, a ratio of roughly 1.7 to 1.

South Korea led on recycling rates.

South Korea recycled 59 percent of its total municipal waste. Incinerated waste amounted to 5.6 million tons (24.8 percent), including 2.7 million tons recovered for recycling after incineration, while landfilled waste totaled 2.4 million tons (10.7 percent).

Japan recycled 19.6 percent of its municipal waste, or 7.6 million tons. Unlike South Korea, Japan recovered more waste through post-incineration recycling — 4.4 million tons — than through direct recycling, which stood at 3.2 million tons.

Incineration dominated Japan's waste management, accounting for 30.2 million tons, or 77.6 percent of total municipal waste. Landfilled waste, including material processed through incineration or other treatment before burial, totaled 3.1 million tons (8.1 percent).

Japan has built its waste management system around maximizing incineration, treating direct landfilling as a last resort given the country's mountainous, island terrain. In Tokyo, 22 of the 23 special wards operate their own incineration facilities.

As of 2023, South Korea operated 404 incineration facilities with a combined daily processing capacity of 25,293 tons. Private facilities outnumbered public ones — 225 (56 percent) versus 179 (44 percent). Public facilities handled more waste, however, processing 13,391 tons per day compared with 11,902 tons at private facilities.

Japan once operated more than 2,000 incineration facilities in the 1970s, but that number had fallen to 1,321 as of 2023. The figure is expected to decline further as local governments consolidate facilities in response to population decline.

Of Japan's 1,321 facilities, 76 percent (1,004) were publicly operated and 24 percent (317) were private. Public facilities processed 174,598 tons per day (63.3 percent of total capacity), while private facilities handled 101,401 tons per day (36.7 percent).

The composition of waste also differed between the two countries.

Among combustible municipal waste, South Korea's total reached 7.466 million tons in 2023, with plastics topping the breakdown at 2.385 million tons, followed by other materials (2.304 million tons), paper (1.6 million tons) and food waste (569,000 tons). Japan's combustible waste totaled 35.858 million tons in 2022, led by paper (14.474 million tons), food waste (10.542 million tons), vegetation (4.878 million tons) and plastics (4.594 million tons).

South Korea generated far more total plastic waste — including industrial sources — at 15.637 million tons in 2023, more than double Japan's 7.69 million tons.

The two institutes plan to continue updating their comparative waste data and expand the scope of the comparison. They also intend to invite other countries to participate in the effort.

The full report is available on the National Institute of Environmental Research's environmental information library website.