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Allbaro system
Korea Environment&Resources Corporation

The Problem

In Korea, due to the increase of business activities and expansion of the economy, the quantity of local industrial waste was on continuous rise by an annual rate of over 6%, and was estimated to have reached over 90 million tons in the 1990s.

Every year, there was an estimated 90 million or more tons of illegally disposed industrial waste in Korea, which caused environmental contamination, damaged the health of nearby residents, and furthermore, made the government bear the cost of disposing of neglected wastes.

To avoid the pollution caused by industrial waste, since 1999 the Ministry of Environment of Korea (KMOE) has implemented the "Waste Disposal Verification System" that mandated the preparation and submission of paper vouchers aimed at reporting waste management status to administrative agencies.

Under the system, waste discharge businesses were required to write a paper voucher titled "Waste Handover Statement." The voucher was handed over to the party in charge of waste collection and transportation, and then to the party in charge of treatment as well as the administrative agency governing treatment business. This agency then sent it back to the administrative agency governing waste discharge business so that both agencies can cross-check the voucher together.

The MOE accomplished the ultimate goal of tracking down illegal waste disposal activities and took legal actions against them by operating the system. However, many problems arose during the process of its implementation.

First, the "Waste Disposal Verification System" caused a waste of time and resources involved in delivering and posting paper vouchers.
Businesses used 26 millions of paper vouchers and posted 83 tons of mail at an estimated cost of a hundred million USD annually.
It was inconvenient for businesses to write and physically hand over the vouchers while they were busy transporting and treating wastes.

Second, the paper vouchers had limitations in preventing illegal treatment of waste because the administrative agencies in charge could check the voucher only after discharge, transportation, disposal and treatment of waste were all completed.

Third, the human resources of the administrative agencies in charge were insufficient. There were only one or two public officials per administrative agency assigned to voucher work, and it was impossible for such a small number of officials to manage over 26 million paper vouchers they received annually.
In addition, there was no physical space to keep all those paper vouchers submitted by every party in charge of discharge, transportation, and disposal of wastes. When illegal treatment was suspected, it was quite a difficult task to locate a specific company's voucher in the vast accumulation of vouchers.

After this matter got the attention of the MOE and the Environment and Resources Corporation (ENVICO), an affiliated organization of MOE, they became interested in developing new technologies and institutional measures that would overcome the temporal and spatial limitations of the current system, track the flow of wastes in real time, and at the same time simplify administrative procedures.

Solution and Key Benefits

 What is the initiative about? (the solution)
ENVICO thought of IT-based waste management system. If it is possible to implement the Waste Disposal Verification System based on IT solutions, cost and time saving effects were expected by using the IT system instead of the paper-based one. Moreover tracking the location of waste from anywhere and in real time would be much easier.
According to the concept of waste management system (WMS), those in charge of discharging, transporting, and disposing wastes are required to input the process information (name, weight of waste, etc.) into the system. The administrative organization can follow the whole process by checking the data if there is any discord in the waste information or errors in the process.

The ultimate purpose of the WMS can be described as follows: First, it should be able to enable real-time confirmation of waste management. Second, the WMS should prevent illegal treatment and neglected waste by watching the procedure of waste treatment. Third, the WMS should contribute to enhancing national competitiveness. ENVICO started to develop the WMS in September 2000 and finished its development in September 2001.

The benefits from developing and operating the WMS are as follows:
First, Waste businesses save cost and time by using WMS. According to the analysis of the results of a study conducted by the Korea Institute of Public Administration, businesses will benefit from cost and time savings of 133 million 9,800,000 hours every year by using the WMS in place of paper vouchers.

Second, the work efficiency of public officials in charge of waste management at administrative agency has been maximized.
Expenses for checking paper vouchers and creating statistical data have been reduced by 14 million USD, which attributed to real-time waste management and automatic data creation.

In addition, the WMS has brought a cost-cutting effect of 62 million USD which came from reduction of over 3,200 on-the-spot voucher checking officers who used to check six million vouchers every year.

Third, ENVICO can monitor the actual conditions of waste discharge and processing without delay and error.
Because waste statistics had been processed manually via the administrative agencies in charge, it took a lot of time until the results were collected.
However, the new system has made it possible to collect and analyze various types of waste related information such as the waste transportation and waste treatment status by district and type in real-time.

Also, the statistical data collected by the system is an important input for setting up national waste policies. The government can avoid making overlapping capital investment, and invest in the treatment and recycling facilities that take into account the amount of waste generated.

Fourth, ENVICO was able to reduce the illegal dumping and treatment of waste through by supervising waste businesses in real-time.

According to the research results of the MOE, the new system had an effect on reducing illegally dumped waste by 70%, from an annual average of 600,000 tons in 1998-2003 to 120,000 tons in 2004-2006.

Actors and Stakeholders

 Who proposed the solution, who implemented it and who were the stakeholders?
The Korean government has promoted information–oriented society based on its e-government concept since 1995, and the MOE and affiliated organizations has discussed very actively ways to enhance the efficiency of the administration through information technology.
In particular, a nation-wide consensus was formed on the need for the introduction of an IT-based waste management system in order to remove inefficiencies resulting from the existing Waste Disposal Verification System.

In trying to solve the problem of unlawful processing and dumping of industrial waste, ENVICO, which is specialized in waste management, became interested in an electronic waste manifest system based on information technology.

And in January 2000, the computing division of ENVICO was asked to cooperate by MOE in the information-oriented technology of the Waste Disposal Verification System.
Consequently, ENVICO set up a task force team to take on the work of building the new system, and tried to find a solution to move the paper voucher system to an electronic platform.

ENVICO prepared a comprehensive waste management system roadmap under MOE's political support.

MOE and ENVICO carried out job analysis, and examined budget and manpower requirements as well as the present level of the user infrastructure.

According to the basic plan that ENVICO established, the budget was to come from the information-oriented society fund of the Ministry of Information and Communication, and the manpower from ENVICO's IT staff. The user infrastructure was to be expanded in phase over a five-year period, beginning with large enterprises that generated large quantities of designated(which were highly hazardous and strictly managed by the legal system) wastes.

Then ENVICO had about 20 analysis conferences on the subjects that were pointed out as problems by the Ministry of Information and Communication after confirming the business plan with MOE.

The staff visited some 20 companies, including large, medium and small enterprises, and also all the officials in charge at regional environmental agencies, and reflected on local needs. The staff produced a perfect business plan and submitted it to the Ministry of Information and Communication.

Finally, the WMS was chosen as one of the informatization projects by the Ministry of Information and Communication on June 20, 2000, and MOE formally designated ENVICO as the operator of the waste information system.
ENVICO completed successful system development and put a team in charge of system management for successful operation of the system.

(a) Strategies

 Describe how and when the initiative was implemented by answering these questions
 a.      What were the strategies used to implement the initiative? In no more than 500 words, provide a summary of the main objectives and strategies of the initiative, how they were established and by whom.
The purpose of implementing this system was to realize proper waste management through information technology.
All of the waste businesses had to use the system for the WMS to fulfill its function of optimum waste management.

However, the use of this system was not mandatory by law at the time of introduction. Therefore, it was most important to secure users in order to realize waste management using the WMS.

ENVICO proceeded with its primary strategy of increasing system users through the measures below.

First, it was important to provide training by system user characteristics.
Because this system is used by administrative agencies, waste dischargers, transporters and disposers, training customized to the needs of each type of user was essential.

ENVICO produced and distributed manuals that were customized for each type of user.
Furthermore, a video clip was uploaded to WMS’ homepage to provide instructions on how to use the system, and allowed users to download it any time.

ENVICO developed on-line training courses for users who want to receive training but do not have time to attend real classes. By taking these on-line courses, they feel as if they were taking a class in person.

Second, ENVICO established a channel to receive user feedback for continuous improvement of the system.
This system needs continuous updating, and this updating is achieved by listening to user's feedback and opinions.
ENVICO decided to establish a user opinion window, which takes the online opinions of system users as the following for effective management.
ENVICO established a section dedicated to receiving customer opinions on the system homepage.
This section has been used to receive opinions on the improvement of system operation that are difficult to be handled by phone, and to provide feedback on the opinions received.

Third, value added systems were provided to extend the functionality of the waste management system which offered convenience for users.
ENVICO made it possible for users to submit their annual report using the system, which was originally supposed to be handed over in person.
In addition, ENVICO developed another function to automatically create a waste management ledger so that it would be more convenient for the businesses.
Also, ENVICO provided a waste approval and permission function for applying for, changing, and authorizing waste-related approvals and permissions.
ENVICO constructed the ARS system which uses a telephone instead of the system as an alternative for the enterprises which have poor IT conditions with which they could register the data on the waste handover statement by phone without access to the Internet.

ENVICO gave huge incentives to enterprises at the same time. Every year, ENVICO encouraged competition between companies by awarding those that best utilized the system, and cut the number of inspections by administrative agencies to reduce the burden on companies.
Due to these efforts, system users recognized that it was not necessarily disadvantageous for them to use the system, and the number of users consistently increased.

(b) Implementation

 b.      What were the key development and implementation steps and the chronology? No more than 500 words
Stage 1 (2001~2002) was a period of development and early operation of the system. The function for waste manifest, which forms the foundation of waste management, was developed and operated during this period.
ENVICO designated 1,500 businesses who discharged a lot of designated wastes as the target for the system's use. Envico achieved 100% of its goal of the 1,500 businesses.

During Stage 2 of extensive operation (2003), the system was applied to an additional 8,000 businesses including those discharging small amounts of designated wastes and businesses which were directed by the Environmental Office.
This time with accumulated information of waste businesses using the system, ENVICO developed various useful functions.
ENVICO fulfilled the Waste Approval and Permission function which made it possible for system users to obtain the necessary permissions using WMS which were at the start gained through visiting in person.
Because of the convenience of the Waste Approval and Permission function, the users of the system increased gradually, reaching 80% of the applicants for waste-related approvals and permissions using the authorization system.
During this stage, an additional 6,300 businesses, including those discharging small amount of designated wastes, joined the system, raising the system membership to 86% of all businesses that the system was targeting.

During Stage Three (2004), the WMS went through a stabilization process. System users were expanded to include general waste businesses, and increased to 20,000 in number. Extensive system education helped the WMS settle down in such a short period of time. Additionally, a Disaster Recovery System, which functions in case of such emergency situations as power blackouts, was added to the WMS to allow it to perform without interruption.
Additionally, ENVICO developed the Waste Information Analysis function that analyzes the registered waste information in real time and analyzes the waste handover information in many dimensions, showing waste transfer status, district occurrence status, and processing method in graphic form.

During Stage Four (2005), construction waste was included in the WMS to eventually cover all kinds of waste in Korea. The number of system users increased to 45,000.
What's more, RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) system was added to the system for managing infectious waste using the latest technology to identify electronic tags attached to waste in real time.
By the introduction of the RFID technology to medical waste, it is expected to upgrade the management system of the WMS. Even if businesses do not input the relevant data, this system enables us to see if they conduct proper treatment processes, such as complying with the storage periods required by law.
In August 2008, the Waste Control Act will come into effect. ENVICO has arranged for more than 230,000 waste businesses to use the WMS in time with no errors. WMS began its new functions under the brand name of “Allbaro” as the Act came into effect. The brand name Allbaro means All Waste Barometer, which aims to manage all kinds of wastes with improved standard

(c) Overcoming Obstacles

 c.      What were the main obstacles encountered? How were they overcome? No more than 500 words
The use rate of the Allbaro system was not as high as expected when the system was first rolled out. Primary reason for that was the change-resistant attitude of the waste businesses. Because of the optional nature of the Allbaro system, waste businesses did not have to use it.

To cope with the problem, ENVICO has used two strategies of promoting the system and offering strong incentives.
Most of waste businesses did not know much about the Allbaro system and some of them did not even try to know it. Waste businesses were already well accustomed to manual paper work for waste treatment. Using the Allbaro system meant to them only adding extra work. ENVICO decided to give them further information on the Allbaro system and that turned out to work well. ENVICO provided information such as the efficiency and convenience waste businesses could achieve from using the Allbaro system, and finally persuaded them to use the system.
ENVICO provided powerful incentives for waste businesses to use the Allbaro system. Each year the best users of the system were presented prizes by ENVICO and MOE. In addition, lessening the burden of waste businesses by reducing the times of inspections and providing automatic annual reports in the Allbaro system has made waste businesses feel that the system is more convenient and secure. That led to system usage rate of more than 85% in designated waste companies and 94% in infectious waste companies.
The second reason came from the incompatibility among waste-related systems. The Allbaro system itself operated perfectly to manage the waste treatment business without any help from other systems. However, a problem occurred with the Allbaro system as waste businesses using the Allbaro system surged.
The problem the Allbaro system faced was about the incompatibility between the Allbaro system and the systems used by individual waste businesses. Waste businesses had to use the two waste systems (the Allbaro system and then their own system) because the two systems were not compatible with each other. Waste businesses' own management system called ERP system was being used comprehensively covering from waste treatment to all resources involved in a company's operations. Problems arose when waste ERP system overlapped with the Allbaro system. This problem as a whole made waste businesses resistant to using the Allbaro system.
To face up to the problem, ENVICO developed new functions which connected the ERP system to the Allbaro system, and allowed waste businesses to use the system only once. They provided this upgraded system to the businesses.
With these connection functions developed, the Allbaro system was able to give a good impression to the users. After applying the functions, users of general and construction waste businesses increased 100%.

(d) Use of Resources

 d.      What resources were used for the initiative and what were its key benefits? In no more than 500 words, specify what were the financial, technical and human resources’ costs associated with this initiative. Describe how resources were mobilized
Financial Resources
The Allbaro system was developed through five stages, each of which required different levels of financial, human and technical resources. The waste handover management system cost 1,733,000 USD, which was supported by MIC (Ministry of Information and Communication of Korea). Later on, 582,000 USD was spent for developing the waste approval and permission application handling system and the waste information analysis system. The disaster recovery system cost 945,000 USD to construct. Annual cost to keep the system in operation is 27 Hundred Thousand USD.
The RFID system is a very complicated system that requires brand new techniques. Establishment of the RFID system cost 5,609,000 USD. Supplementary hardware, such as portable readers, tag issuers and ID cards are used.

Human Resources
Manpower to operate the Allabro system has been increased from five members to 80. This workforce, who is based across the country, handles the operation of the system, DB management, web development and education.

Technical Resources
The web-based technology of the Allbaro system takes advantage of the Internet infrastructure, which is already well developed in Korea.
XML/EDI is used to connect the waste management system of ENVICO with ERP systems of waste businesses and public institutions.

Sustainability and Transferability

  Is the initiative sustainable and transferable?
Sustainability of the Allbaro system, which is truly innovative, was uncertain because of its non-binding nature before the revision of the Act. This eventually made it difficult for the Allbaro system to recruit system users.
In August 2007, the Waste Control Act was revised to include the compulsory use of the Allbaro system when treating industrial waste. Now that the law has been revised, it is expected that the Allbaro system will develop into a comprehensive waste management system to manage more than 230,000 waste businesses and reduce more than 99% of abandoned and illegal waste.
The brand name, Allbaro was registered with KIPO (Korea Intellectual Property Office) for the protection of rights. MOE is fostering Allbaro as the international brand at a country level, being proud that Allbaro is the world's best waste management system.

The Allbaro brand has spread its innovative achievements both nationally and internationally. A strategic partnership with Korea Coast Guard (KCG) is a good example of nationwide dissemination. Previously, there had been no structured system for controlling sea waste. The main authorities to monitor sea waste are divided into MOE and KCG, and this made it much more difficult to track waste between them. To overcome the situation KCG developed an IT based sea waste management system which borrowed the concept of the Allbaro system. Subsequently, ENVICO constructed a comprehensive waste management system collaborating with KCG, which will reduce the cost by 12 Ten Million USD.

ENVICO is now working closely with Vietnam (VEPA-Vietnam Environment Protection Agency) and Japan (JIWC). For Vietnam, Envico has been transferring system technologies upon request from Vietnam since 2006.
Vietnam is currently undergoing the phase of industrialization and modernization. With its rapid economic growth, the amount of waste generated from residences, industry, commerce and hospitals is increasing sharply, and the country is suffering from a large amount of neglected waste.
Against this backdrop, Vietnam asked ENVICO to provide support in developing a waste management system to be used for the country's hazardous waste. ENVICO then decided to transfer its technology. The process of transfer has been in progress since 2006.

ENVICO expect that the technology transfer now underway will provide a good chance to disseminate Korea's hazardous waste management system to Vietnam and also to expand cooperation in environmental IT and raise the level of environmental IT. In addition, it will contribute to enhancing mutual trust between the two countries over the long term and contribute to environmental protection and sustainable economic development in Vietnam.

For Japan, both ENVICO and JIWTC (Japan Industrial Waste Technology Center) have signed an MOU and worked hard on the standardization of waste management to control waste moving across both countries. JIWTC is going to visit ENVICO to research the waste moving across both countries using the both countries' WMS. Also, JIWIC is now carrying out in-depth research in RFID techniques applied to the Allbaro system.

Lessons Learned

 What are the impact of your initiative and the lessons learned?
The first reason the Allbaro system has been successful lies in a well-timed utilization of the well-developed Korean information infrastructure. Korea is a powerful country in terms of information technology, ranking third in Information Society Index, seventh in Science Competitiveness Index, and first in Digital Access Index. This IT base helped the Allbaro system from the beginning of its operation with well-organized information infrastructure. The nationwide connected Internet made it possible for the Allbaro system to manage the process of industrial waste disposal efficiently and accurately on a real time basis. With reduced costs, such as manpower, time and money, waste businesses have accomplished accountability and transparency, which have made them more competitive. RFID technology shows well how the Allbaro system has utilized high-technology to implement the initiative.

Second, supporting small companies that exist outside the IT infrastructure turned out to be one of the key success factors. The fact that using the Allbaro system was not compulsory made ENVICO struggle to raise the system use rate. Since the start of the Allbaro system, such alternative tools as fax, ARS, remote education system and educational video have been provided. That resulted in a system use rate of more than 80% in designated waste companies and 85% in infectious waste companies.
Third, the Allbaro system was not a perfect system from the start. The users’ feedback helped develop the Allbaro system to its high level of efficiency. To provide continuous user feedback, ENVICO has been operating an Internet-based customer suggestion channel, customer satisfaction governance and customer suggestion surveys. Quick responses have been given to customer voices on how to improve the system gathered through these channels. This effort has helped ENVICO to attain good grades for four consecutive years in Customer Satisfaction Survey by the Korean government.
After all the dedicated years, Allbaro system selected one of the best public service brand in Korea was given the top prize of national public service prize in 2007 after being recognized its innovative achievement.

Contact Information

Institution Name:   Korea Environment&Resources Corporation
Institution Type:   Public Organization  
Contact Person:   Kim Ji-in
Title:   Staff  
Telephone/ Fax:   82-32-560-1751
Institution's / Project's Website:   82-32-560-1789
E-mail:   nora78@envico.or.kr  
Address:   The General Environmental Research Complex, Gyeongseo-Dong, Seo-Gu, Incheon, Korea
Postal Code:   404-170
City:  
State/Province:  
Country:  

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