From April, Single-Use Cups Banned in Cafes... Seoul Launches Full-Scale 'Zero Waste' Initiative

600 Reusable Cup Vending Machines Installed at 16 High Disposable Cup Usage Sites
Zero Waste Culture Spreading at 20 Universities Leading Zero Campus Without Single-Use Items

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] Starting April 1, Seoul City is advancing various projects to accelerate the establishment of a zero-waste culture, such as installing 'reusable cup unmanned collection machines' and creating zero campuses, ahead of the complete ban on single-use plastic cups in food service establishments like cafes and bakeries.

On the 24th, Seoul City announced that it will install 600 reusable cup unmanned collection machines to improve accessibility and convenience for returning reusable cups. Following the pilot operation with 16 unmanned collection machines installed near Seoul City Hall cafes, this year, 16 key locations with high single-use cup usage, such as university areas and office-dense districts, have been selected to focus installations in cafes, franchise stores, universities, subway stations, and other multi-use facilities within these hubs.

To spread the zero-waste practice culture mainly in university areas densely populated with young people, Seoul City is launching the creation of 'Zero Campuses,' a university model without single-use products. The project will be promoted by recruiting 20 universities. On the 26th, Mayor Oh Se-hoon will hold the ‘2022 Seoul Zero Waste Campus MZ Forum’ at DDP Seoul-On Studio to gather fresh and creative ideas from youth to solve the issue of daily waste on campuses.

Additionally, to reduce single-use items from food delivery, following the pilot project with the food delivery platform ‘Yogiyo’ for using reusable containers, this year Seoul City will expand reusable container use by signing business agreements with three more companies (Baedal Minjok, Coupang Eats, and Ttaenggyeoyo). The number of ‘Zero Restaurants’ participating in reusable delivery container use will increase from about 130 to an additional 500, focusing on areas with high delivery demand such as Gangnam-gu and Gwanak-gu. The number of zero markets, which minimize packaging when selling products, will also expand from 10 to 100 locations to spread eco-friendly consumption culture.

Yoo Yeon-sik, Head of Seoul City’s Climate and Environment Headquarters, said, “Amid growing awareness of the crisis caused by increasing daily waste, Seoul City is promoting various policies for waste reduction and increasing resource circulation rates through separate collection and recycling.” He added, “We will steadily implement zero campuses, zero cafes, zero restaurants, and zero markets that approach citizens’ daily lives to establish a resource circulation system and strive to ensure that eco-friendly consumption culture is firmly rooted among citizens.”