Ban on Plastic Umbrella Covers in Department Stores and Large Marts, Plastic Cheer Items in Sports Facilities
Fines up to 3 Million KRW... One-Year Grace Period Without Fines Planned
From the 24th of this month, the use of plastic bags will be banned in convenience stores, expanding the scope of single-use item restrictions. However, the government has decided to implement a one-year guidance period to minimize confusion and inconvenience caused by the expanded restrictions on single-use items, during which no fines will be imposed for violations. The photo shows a notice about the suspension of plastic bag sales displayed at a convenience store in Seoul on the 1st. Photo by Yonhap News
[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Jung-wan] Starting tomorrow, the free provision of single-use plastic bags at small retail stores such as convenience stores will be discontinued, and selling them for money will be prohibited in principle. The use of paper cups, plastic straws, and stirring sticks will be restricted in restaurants. However, there will be a one-year grace period during which enforcement and fines will be waived.
According to the Ministry of Environment on the 23rd, from the 24th, convenience stores and bakeries will no longer be allowed to use plastic bags, just like large-scale stores over 3,000㎡ and supermarkets over 165㎡.
Currently, convenience stores can sell plastic bags for about 100 won instead of giving them away for free, but now selling them will also be prohibited.
From the 24th, large stores such as department stores and large marts will be banned from using plastic to prevent raindrops from falling off umbrellas. In food service establishments such as restaurants and collective catering facilities, single-use paper cups, plastic straws, and stirring sticks will be prohibited, and the use of plastic cheering items at sports facilities will also be banned.
This is the first time since the 2019 ban on plastic bags in large stores that restrictions on single-use items have been expanded.
When the government amended and promulgated the related law on December 31 last year, it stipulated that a fine of up to 3 million won could be imposed if single-use items were used without compliance or provided free of charge. However, the Ministry of Environment announced detailed enforcement plans for expanded single-use item regulations on the 1st and decided to implement a one-year 'participatory guidance period.'
This guidance will differ from previous passive guidance by encouraging and supporting business owners' participation in reduction campaigns to promote voluntary reduction. To this end, the Ministry of Environment plans to launch a 'behavior change inducement (nudge-type) reduction' campaign in cooperation with local governments, regional environmental offices, the Korea Environment Corporation, and related private organizations to minimize single-use item usage by inducing changes in customer service.
The campaign will proceed by changing customer service methods to induce behavior changes, such as hiding single-use items inside stores and setting the default option for no provision of single-use items as the 'green default' when ordering via unmanned ordering machines (kiosks).
Meanwhile, the expansion of single-use item restrictions coincides with the first match of the World Cup group stage scheduled on the 24th, which is expected to cause confusion regarding single-use cheering items such as balloon sticks. Although the use of synthetic resin cheering items will be banned at sports facilities from the 24th, street cheering is not considered a sports facility, and even at sports facilities, cheering items personally brought by spectators are not subject to regulation.
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