제주 위클리 모바일 사이트 , Jeju Beaches Suffer from Trash 
 기사 승인 2020 . 03 . 23 16 : 42 : 09 
 Jeju coasts are suffering from marine debris . Although Jeju Province spends billions of won every year to collect and dispose of marine debris , it ’ s still not enough . This is because there is no systematic waste disposal system built for marine debris containing salt and foreign objects . According to Jeju Province on Feb . 19 th , the annual collection of marine garbage by year amount to 14 , 065 tons in 2015 , 9 , 043 tons in 2016 , 12 , 513 tons in 2017 , 13 , 403 tons in 2018 , and 11 , 760 ( tentative ) tons last year . The province spends over 6 billion won every year to collect and dispose of marine debris . 
 Many different kinds of marine debris arrive at the coasts of Jeju , including waste styrofoam , wastes dumped from domestic and Chinese fishing boats , and various household garbage such as beverage bottles and disposable food packaging . Marine debris is mostly driven to Seogwipo - si , south of Jeju Island , via the southeast wind between spring and summer , and to Jeju - si , north of Jeju Island , via the northwest wind between autumn and winter . As the problem grows severe , the province operated the first “ Clean Jeju Coastal Guards ” in 2017 , collecting marine debris from all coasts of the province . Local government officials , public workers , and NGOs in each municipality are also working hard to retrieve marine debris , but the amount of trash is staggering to be collected on time . 
 The disposal process is also demanding . The collection of marine debris must be completed quickly before the tide enters . For this reason , the waste is collected without differentiating them into plastics , vinyl , waste wood , and waste nets . 
 As a result , recyclables , combustible , and non - combustible wastes are mixed together , and because of high salt and water content , incinerators in the province are reluctant to accept them as they may cause the equipment to break down . The handling of offshore wastes are commissioned to private companies , but due to the large volume of waste , unprocessed wastes are piled up like mountains in the 15 collection sites throughout the province . 
 After separating recyclable materials from the collected marine debris , the disposal process costs 400 , 000 won per ton until final incineration is completed . In the past , marine trash , a mix of domestic wastes and seaweed such as algae and gulfweed , have been buried in landfills because it was difficult to incinerate them . This has been one of the causes of premature saturation of landfills in the province . 
 For this reason , pre - treatment waste disposal facilities , which can remove salt and foreign substances as well as sort and separate wastes , were proposed last year for easy recycling and incineration of marine debris . But after failing to secure the national budget , it became difficult to install the facility . 
 An official from the province remarked , “ A large amount of marine debris arrives in Jeju every year due to the geographical nature of the island , but it is not easy to collect and dispose of them . ” The official added , “ Pre - treatment facilities are necessary to establish a systematic marine garbage disposal system . We plan to ask the government for the budget again this year . ”