Last year, the use of plastic shopping bags at domestic duty-free shops in Korea was surveyed to have decreased by 81.2%, from 89.2 million before COVID-19 to 16.76 million.
The Ministry of Environment announced this after investigating 12 domestic duty-free shops, noting a significant reduction in plastic shopping bag usage. During the same period, the usage per duty-free customer dropped from 2.34 bags to 1.03 bags. From January to May this year, it further decreased to 0.83 bags. The use of plastic cushioning materials also declined from 77.79 million to 7.05 million, with per capita usage falling from 2.04 to 0.43 pieces.
The Ministry of Environment evaluated this as the effect of the “Voluntary Agreement to Reduce Disposable Items and Distribution Packaging” signed in September last year with the Korea Duty Free Shops Association and major duty-free shops. Since then, the duty-free industry has introduced paper shopping bags and started providing plastic bags only in limited cases where items are heavy or need to be sealed. The frequency of using plastic cushioning materials, which were conventionally used, has also been reduced by avoiding their use on products with low risk of damage.
Han Hwa-jin, Minister of Environment, stated, “The effect of voluntary reduction is not immediate but is clearly appearing and its scope is much broader,” adding, “We will continue to make efforts to expand these achievements throughout society.”
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