South Korea’s Ministry of Environment said on December 24 that South Korea plans to reduce plastic waste by reducing the output of plastic products and increasing the recycling rate. It is planned that by 2025, South Korea will reduce plastic waste by 20% and increase the recycling rate of waste plastic from the current 54% to 70%.
The Ministry of Environment of South Korea stated that it will gradually reduce the use of plastics from the production stage, and reuse the used domestic plastic waste as raw materials or extract oil from it, thereby increasing the recycling rate of plastic products.
The government has announced a blueprint for eradicating plastic waste:
By 2025, the proportion of plastic containers in the overall container will be reduced from the current 47% to 38%, in order to reduce the production and use of plastic containers. To this end, the government will communicate with relevant industries and adjust targets based on the characteristics of each industry.
By 2030, all companies will completely ban the use of disposable plastic bags. In addition, greenhouse gas emissions caused by plastics will be reduced by 30% in 2030.
By 2050, petroleum plastics will be completely replaced by bioplastics, paving the way for a plastic-free society.
In addition, South Korea will completely ban the import of plastic waste from overseas from 2022.
The plan is to be carried out in stages until 100% of daily necessities are made of biomass and 45% of bioplastics are made into products used by enterprises. Also starting from the New Year in 2022, bioplastics will be labeled as such, indicating that they can be recycled.
