Ministry of Environment and Anti-Corruption Commission Conduct Nationwide Survey Ahead of Introducing Deposit System for Disposable Cups

Asia Economy DB=Photo by Honam Moon munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Bo-kyung] The Ministry of Environment and the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission will conduct an online survey on the 'National Idea Box (idea.epoeple.go.kr)' until the 12th of next month to gather diverse public opinions on the 2022 disposable cup deposit system.

The disposable product deposit system is a scheme where customers pay a certain deposit when ordering beverages at cafes, etc., and receive a refund upon returning the cup. It was promoted through a voluntary agreement with related industries in 2002 but was abolished in 2008, and is now set to be revived after 14 years.

Over the past decade, the number of coffee shops, bakeries, and fast-food outlets increased rapidly from about 3,500 in 2008 to 30,549 in 2018, and the use of disposable cups at these places rose from 420 million in 2007 to 2.5 billion in 2018. However, the collection rate of disposable cups dropped from 37% in 2009 to 5% in 2018.

As problems such as recyclable cups being left as street litter have arisen, the Ministry of Environment is preparing to reintroduce the disposable cup deposit system. If disposable cups are collected and recycled, greenhouse gas emissions are expected to decrease by 66% compared to simple incineration, and benefits exceeding 44.5 billion KRW annually are anticipated.

Before implementing the system, the Ministry of Environment plans to gather public opinions with the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission to establish detailed implementation plans, including the deposit amount and applicable targets (industry, scale, etc.). This survey is being conducted jointly with the private portal Naver, and the collected public opinions will be referenced when revising the Enforcement Decree of the Resource Recycling Act.

Lee Young-ki, Director of the Resource Circulation Policy Division at the Ministry of Environment, said, "The successful implementation of the disposable cup deposit system depends most importantly on public practice, so we are conducting this survey to fully reflect the voices of the people during the process of promoting the system."

Kwon Seok-won, Director of the Policy Improvement Bureau at the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission, said, "Excessive use of disposable products is a matter directly related to the survival rights of future generations. We hope that through this survey, social consensus will spread and policies that all citizens can voluntarily participate in based on public involvement will be established."