The "hidden electricity waste" consumed in processing food waste discarded in massive quantities across the country has emerged as a serious problem. The power required just to process one year's worth of food waste generated in South Korea is equivalent to the entire annual electricity consumption of a major metropolitan city.
According to a Seoul Economic Daily investigation published Tuesday, household waste totaled 17.045 million tons in 2024, of which approximately one-third — 5,025,882 tons — was food waste. The figure remained at elevated levels compared to the previous year's 5,022,356 tons.
South Korea's food waste output is also high by international standards. The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) estimated Korea's daily food waste at approximately 0.36 kilograms per capita through modeling that reflects industrial structure and income levels. The figure, which includes waste generated by large supermarkets and restaurants, far exceeds that of Japan (0.22 kg) and Singapore (0.34 kg).
The problem is that the energy consumed in the processing stage is enormous. According to industry sources, food waste dryers and large-scale grinding equipment use an average of 0.4 to 1.2 kWh of electricity per kilogram processed. Applying the midpoint of 0.8 kWh, the annual power needed to process food waste reaches approximately 3.58 billion kWh. This is equivalent to the annual residential electricity consumption of Ulsan, a metropolitan city with a population of around one million, and equals the amount a single latest-generation nuclear reactor (1.4 GW class) would need to produce over approximately 107 days.
Experts stress that reducing food waste requires consistency in processing methods and a shift in policy. "The current food waste processing system fails to prevent energy waste. RFID-based food waste collection has been introduced recently, but the processing method has actually become more inconvenient," said Park Seok-soon, professor emeritus of environmental engineering at Ewha Womans University. "We need to consider a plan to distribute disposers to every household and manage the system at the national level."
"The most important thing is changing the food culture in which 30 to 40 percent of ingredients are thrown away before even reaching the dinner table," Park added.