WeekyoungLEE Korea (Republic of)

Weekyoung LEE (Wee-Kyoung) Weekyoung LEE has worked at the Korea Environment Corporation (K-eco) since 2002, dedicating her career to advancing recycling and circular economy policies in the Republic of Korea. She developed extensive expertise in the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) Recycling Program, which requires producers of products and packaging to take responsibility for recycling and resource recovery. She is currently the Director of the Resource Circulation Statistics Division, which provides the data foundation for national recycling and circular economy policymaking. K-eco, often called the “small Ministry of Environment,” operates under the Ministry of Environment and implements Korea’s environmental policies in practice. Korea has been a leader in resource circulation legislation, enacting the Framework Act on Resource Circulation in 2016 to move beyond end-of-pipe waste management toward prevention and reduction. More recently, the Act on the Promotion of Transition to a Circular Economy Society emphasized life-cycle resource circulation. She contributed to drafting these laws and now serves on the task force preparing the implementation plan for the coming decade.