Convenience Store Owners Angry Over Additional Collection Points for Disposable Cups...

Criticism of Typical Patchwork Measures... "Willing to Take Collective Action"

Various products are displayed at a convenience store in Seoul.

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Chun-han] Convenience store owners have strongly opposed the government's move to include convenience stores as collection points for disposable coffee cups.

The Korea Convenience Store Owners Association issued a press release on the 16th, stating, "We strongly condemn the Ministry of Environment's policy to include convenience stores as collection points for disposable coffee cups," and criticized, "This policy is a unilateral decision that does not consider store environments or the positions and difficulties of convenience store owners at all, and is a typical patchwork measure."

The association stated, "The Ministry of Environment, after facing backlash when trying to implement a flawed cup deposit system targeting large franchise coffee shops for over two years, has come up with a trick," adding, "If convenience stores are required to collect disposable cups following the collection of empty bottles, it will cause enormous disruption to convenience store operations."

The association also said, "Currently, half of convenience stores do not sell disposable coffee, and many do not even have washing facilities," emphasizing, "Convenience store owners are already suffering serious trauma from having to handle beverage bottles from large discount stores. If the Ministry of Environment pushes this policy unilaterally without consulting store owners, the approximately 60,000 convenience stores will not hesitate to take collective action."

The Korea Convenience Store Network and its affiliated store owners also expressed opposition. They pointed out, "This is a shocking act that completely ignores the hardships of convenience store owners and workers nationwide who are engaged in their livelihoods on the front lines," and noted, "If the task of returning disposable cups is added, it is obvious that convenience store operations will suffer severe damage."

The Convenience Store Network stated, "The Ministry of Environment should immediately scrap the plan to include convenience stores as cup collection points," and "We strongly urge the Ministry to listen carefully to the voices from the convenience store field."