The Korean lesson Rwanda wants to bring home: Make waste pay

In Ulsan, waste does not simply disappear. Pipelines running beneath and above the streets of the city’s Eco-Industrial Park carry steam from a municipal waste incineration facility to nearby factories. A disposal problem has become a shared energy source, lowering costs for manufacturers and emissions for the city.

That system caught the attention of a high-level Rwandan delegation visiting South Korea in May 2026. The delegation toured Hyundai Motor Company’s Ulsan complex, described as the world’s largest automobile manufacturing facility, and examined how a major anchor investor can drive industrial development beyond its factory gates. The visit highlighted shared energy and steam systems, resource efficiency, links with surrounding firms, and the role of nearby port infrastructure in supporting competitiveness and exports.

For Rwanda, the appeal lies in combining industrial growth with tighter use of resources. Through the World Bank-supported Green Industrialization through Industrial Parks and Special Economic Zones program, financed by the Korea Green Growth Trust Fund, the country is building the policy, institutional and infrastructure foundations for a new generation of industrial parks.

Eco-industrial parks allow businesses to share energy, water, materials, information and infrastructure. By lowering production costs and reducing waste, they can support existing manufacturing jobs and create new activity in recycling, environmental services and clean technologies.

The Korean example also offers a story of economic transformation. In the 1960s, nearly 80 percent of Korea’s workforce worked in agriculture, while Ulsan was a small fishing village. Fertilizers and petrochemicals helped launch industrialization. As wages and costs later rose, Korea faced pressure to move production abroad, but it pursued another path. The Rwandan delegation also visited Ulsan Technopark’s Advanced Chemical Technology Support Center, where pilot-scale facilities and technical services help venture companies and small and medium-sized enterprises commercialize products, develop prototypes and validate technologies.