100 Days of the Cafe Disposable Cup Deposit Pilot Project... "Expand Public Collection Facilities"

Priority Implementation in Sejong and Jeju Since December Last Year
National Franchise Store Owners Association Reports "Experiencing Sales Decline"
"Voluntary Participation Should Be Encouraged Instead of Imposing Fines"

On the 13th, self-employed members of the National Cafe Franchise Owners Association held a press conference in front of the War Memorial in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, to report on the 100-day status survey of the disposable cup deposit system implemented in Sejong and Jeju. Photo by Jinhyung Kang aymsdream@

As a result of the government implementing a pilot deposit system for disposable cups targeting cafes and bakeries in Jeju Island and Sejong City, Chungnam Province since December last year, it was found that 8 out of 10 participating stores experienced a decline in sales.

Four organizations, including the National Franchise Store Owners Association and the National Cafe Franchise Store Owners Association, held a press conference on the afternoon of the 13th in front of the Presidential Office in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, titled "100-Day Status Survey on the Jeju and Sejong Disposable Cup Deposit Pilot Project," and announced these findings.

These organizations stated, "Since the system was implemented, store owners have experienced sales declines, and the government is even threatening to impose fines on stores that have not implemented the system," adding, "The government is tightening restrictions on store owners simply because they are part of the pilot project, without efforts or measures to resolve these issues."

They emphasized that to solve these problems, voluntary participation by store owners should be encouraged through the use of standard cups and the expansion of public collection facilities.

They said, "The government should reconsider and improve the system that uses problematic labels. Also, for fairness and effective environmental protection, the system should be implemented simultaneously in all stores nationwide that use disposable cups," and added, "Cross-collection allowing returns imposes special sacrifices, so it should not be implemented without compensation and countermeasures."

According to the survey conducted by these organizations, 99% of store owners reported conflicts with customers related to the deposit system implementation. The survey involved 187 stores (92 in Sejong City and 95 in Jeju Island) out of a total of 526 stores (176 in Sejong City and 350 in Jeju Island) participating in the disposable cup deposit pilot project since December 2 last year.

Specifically, 82.1% responded that there were conflicts with customers during the deposit system guidance (app installation) process, the highest rate. This was followed by 'customers moving to stores not implementing the system' (79.1%), 'increased workload and avoidance of duties by employees due to customer complaints' (79.1%), and 'disputes with customers due to label damage or inability to return cups' (55.2%).

In a survey asking whether the government's system, promotion, and guidance were sufficient, 87.7% answered "very dissatisfied." "Dissatisfied" was 7.5%, "neutral" 4.3%, and "satisfied" 0.5%.

Problems related to the use of deposit system labels included the financial burden on stores due to bulk purchases (89.6%), excessive workload attaching labels (80.6%), the limitation that costs are only recovered if all purchased labels are sold (73.1%), and system deficiencies such as no manual for returns or refunds due to label loss or damage (65.7%).