There is legal uncertainty and ambiguity with regards to the classification and disposal of sludge generated from glassetching process. Moreover, secondary effect on the environment such as corrosion of landfill construction by the sludgeproduced in glass etching process was observed in waste landfill site. As part of response to the parliament’s request forthe relevant data and local media coverage, exhaustive investigation of glass etching process was required. Accordingly,we conducted an exhaustive investigation of 8 glass etching manufacturers. Glass etching business is one of the businessesthat have seen rapid growth since 2010 with the development of semiconductor and electronics industry, and glass etchingproducers are mostly located in Gumi, Cheongju, Sejong, Gongju, and Cheonan cities. In this study, we investigated theharmful effects of wastes generated from the glass etching process, how those wastes are classified and treated, problemsarose from the process, and secondary effects on the environment observed in waste landfill site. The study found thatcyanide, lead, mercury, trichloroethene, and perchloroethene were not detected in the sludge produced from glass etchingprocess, and hexavalent chromium, copper, and arsenic were either not detected or reported at very low level, which wasbelow the threshold concentration level of designated waste. In contrast, pH of sludge produced from glass etching processwas between 1.7 and 2.3, pH of hydrofluoric acid used for glass etching showed acidic value of 1.5, which suggests thatthe classification system of such hazardous substance requires reconsideration.