[Column] Disposable Product Regulation Policy Driven by Emotion

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Hyewon] "This seems like a 'harassment tactic' designed to force self-employed business owners to close down because they simply cannot endure it."

The sighs of self-employed business owners deepened with the policy banning the use of disposable items inside food service establishments such as cafes and restaurants, which resumed on the 1st of this month.

Business owners are immediately preparing new tableware and hiring additional staff for dishwashing and other tasks. Sales have long been halved due to compliance with social distancing and quarantine guidelines, and on top of that, the increased minimum wage has further burdened labor costs, making the introduction of such a policy feel cruel.

Both the industry and consumers agree on the necessity of reducing plastic use from an environmental protection perspective. 'De-plasticization,' eco-friendliness, and carbon neutrality policies are already global trends.

However, in the current situation where the economic foundation of many self-employed business owners has weakened due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic, the Ministry of Environment's mechanical implementation of such policies feels premature. According to the Bank of Korea recently, the outstanding loans of self-employed business owners at the end of last year amounted to 909.2 trillion won, a 32.7% increase compared to 684.9 trillion won at the end of 2019, before the COVID-19 outbreak. As the number of self-employed people surviving on debt due to the prolonged pandemic increases, loans are steadily rising this year and are expected to surpass 1,000 trillion won. Although government COVID-19 support measures such as small business loans will be extended until the end of September, concerns are emerging that many self-employed business owners will face bankruptcy after that, unable to repay loans and accumulated interest.

Instead of introducing the policy in a 'notification-style' manner and then stepping back to 'postpone enforcement' after public backlash?thus admitting it is a half-hearted policy?the Ministry of Environment might have avoided being at the center of such criticism if it had first listened to and gathered opinions from inside and outside the industry and then introduced the policy gradually.

Indirect methods such as campaigns to encourage consumers themselves to develop habits of reducing plastic use or to reduce resistance to using reusable items could also be devised to bring about changes in awareness.