‘Disposable Items Ban at Public Institution Events and Meetings’ … Daegu City Councilor Kwon Ki-hoon Proposes Ordinance as Lead Sponsor

Kwon Ki-hoon, a member of the Daegu Metropolitan Council (People Power Party·Dong-gu 3), has taken the lead in proposing the "Daegu City Ordinance to Reduce the Use of Disposable Products" at the 301st regular session.

Recently, due to the increase in single-person households, small-scale purchases and deliveries have increased, and with the spread of non-face-to-face consumption after COVID-19, the use of disposable products has rapidly increased, making environmental pollution problems even more serious.

Daegu City Council Member Kwon Ki-hoon.

According to the Ministry of Environment's nationwide waste statistics survey, the amount of disposable products discarded per person per day is 37.32g, which translates to an annual generation of 703,327 tons as of 2022.

In response, Daegu Metropolitan Council member Kwon Ki-hoon recognized the serious environmental problems caused by the use of disposable products and proposed this ordinance to establish institutional measures to proactively reduce the use of disposable products starting with public institutions, in order to actively respond to rapid climate change and environmental pollution.

The ordinance includes provisions such as establishing and implementing an action plan to reduce the use of disposable products, conducting surveys on the actual use of disposable products in public institutions, and recommending that disposable products not be used at events or meetings hosted or organized by Daegu public institutions.

Notably, the ordinance provides a basis for supporting businesses such as food service establishments and funeral homes that have signed agreements to prohibit the free provision of disposable products, to help them implement measures to reduce disposable product use.

Additionally, through education and publicity, the ordinance promotes projects encouraging citizens to use reusable products, establishes a public-private cooperation system to enhance policy effectiveness, and allows for awards to be given to institutions, organizations, and individuals who have contributed to policies reducing disposable product use.

Kwon Ki-hoon, who led the proposal of the ordinance, stated, "With the recent development of delivery culture and the active spread of non-face-to-face consumption, the use of disposable products has rapidly increased, making environmental pollution problems even more serious. I hope that this ordinance will serve as an opportunity for public institutions to take the lead in practicing the reduction of disposable product use and that a culture of participation in reducing disposable product use will spread to the private sector as well."