Participation at 13 Locations Around City Hall Until September 30 Next Year
Return Cup After Use → Collection → Cleaning, Reuse Cycle
Do you know about the ‘Ulsan Cup’? It is not the name of a soccer tournament, but rather a so-called ‘circulation cup service’ campaign aimed at reducing the use of disposable cups.
Starting from the 13th until September 30th next year, Ulsan City announced that it will implement the ‘circulation cup service (Ulsan Cup)’ involving 13 cafes around the city hall area, including one inside the government building, to promote the reduction of disposable cup usage.
The circulation cup service uses reusable cups instead of disposable ones, and when returned to designated return locations, the cups are collected, washed, and circulated for continuous use.
Anyone visiting participating cafes can download the dedicated app ‘E(E) Cup’ and purchase beverages using the ‘Ulsan Cup.’ Used cups can be returned to any participating cafe.
Based on the project’s outcomes, Ulsan City plans to gradually expand the ‘Ulsan Cup’ participating cafes beyond the city hall area.
This ‘circulation cup service’ is operated in the form of a ‘living lab’ to derive a sustainable circulation cup service that minimizes user inconvenience, with all participating cafe owners joining as a ‘self-resolution team’ through a public contest project.
While various local governments are currently implementing different versions of circulation cup services as alternatives to disposable cup issues, these efforts have not been very smooth.
Ulsan City plans to involve multiple stakeholders to collaboratively find the best solution for the circulation cup service.
An official from Ulsan City said, “We hope that this project will establish a sustainable circulation cup service that can solve the serious disposable product problem.”
Previously, Ulsan City has minimized the use of disposable products within public institutions to lead the way in reducing disposable product usage. Since January this year, bringing disposable cups from outside into the government building has been prohibited.
Additionally, to find the optimal system to replace disposable cups, Ulsan City collaborated with Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology and proposed the ‘User-Friendly Circulation Cup Service Advancement and Full-Process Environmental Assessment Tool Development Project’ to the ‘2023 Science and Technology Utilization Resident-Consensus Regional Problem Solving Project’ (hosted by the Ministry of the Interior and Safety and the Ministry of Science and ICT), and was finally selected.
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