South Korea's government plans to ban the free distribution of disposable plastic cups, as part of a wider effort to reduce plastic waste, officials said on Wednesday.
The Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment announced in an earlier presidential policy briefing on the same day that this step would be included in a comprehensive plastic reduction roadmap, which is scheduled to be released early next year.
Based on the plan, cafes and other businesses will be required to charge customers for disposable plastic cups.
Climate Minister Kim Sung-hwan said the government intends to allow each business to set their own prices for disposable cups, while setting a minimum price range of around 100 won to 200 won to reflect production costs and prevent excessive use, quoted from The Korea Times December 17.
The announcement comes as the government continues to reevaluate its disposable glass deposit system, in which customers pay a refundable deposit of 300 won when receiving a drink in a disposable glass and receive a refund after returning it.
The system was promoted under the previous Moon Jae-in administration and was originally scheduled for national implementation in June 2022.
However, this program was reduced due to opposition from small business owners and has since been limited to a pilot program in Sejong City and Jeju Island, so that the program is practically inactive.
Although the deposit system was introduced to reduce the use of disposable cups and enable high-quality recycling, critics argue that the system places a disproportionate burden on small businesses without significantly reducing overall consumption.
However, areas such as Jeju show a higher rate of glass return, highlighting its potential effectiveness.
In addition to the glass policy, the ministry said disposable plastic straws could continue to be given free of charge at the request of customers.
The government also plans to introduce a Korean-style environmentally friendly design framework, which encourages manufacturers to minimize environmental impacts throughout the product life cycle, from production and distribution to use and disposal.
The ministry is expected to release a draft of the plastic reduction plan early next week and hold a public hearing to gather feedback before finalizing the policy.
The English, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, and French versions are automatically generated by the AI. So there may still be inaccuracies in translating, please always see Indonesian as our main language. (system supported by DigitalSiber.id)
