[Report] Disposable Cup Collection Bins Useless... "It's Too Much Trouble"

2 to 3 Returns per Day, Mostly Empty
Purpose and Effect of the Project Criticized as Unclear

“The very idea of going back to the cafe to return a disposable cup is too bothersome and seems unreasonable.”

Disposable cup collection bin installed inside a cafe in Jung-gu, Seoul.
[Photo by Seongah Sim]

On the afternoon of the 15th, Lee Sang-yoon (27), a graduate student met at the Food Culture Street in Jung-gu, Seoul, pointed out, “Disposable cups are used for the convenience of drinking and immediately throwing them away, but the current collection method is cumbersome and inefficient, so I’m not really keen on it.” Office worker Kim Mi-ri (40) criticized, “People who care about environmental protection usually carry tumblers,” adding, “The business purpose or effectiveness seems unclear.”

In fact, people who had finished their lunch were holding plastic coffee cups. The empty cups were thrown directly into general trash bins. Although Seoul City started a pilot project for collecting disposable cups over a week ago, no citizens were seen visiting cafes with collection bins to dispose of cups. A franchise cafe employee explained, “Even if we explain the project, everyone just does as they usually do,” and “Only a very small number of customers return disposable cups.”

Individual cafe collection bins remained empty even after more than a week since installation. Cafe owner Park Ro-jun (32) said, “The collection company said they would pick up disposable cups every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, but since not enough cups have been gathered, they haven’t collected even once yet,” adding, “We actively encourage customers to participate, but only about 2 to 3 cups are returned per day.”

A disposable cup collection bin installed inside a cafe in Jung-gu, Seoul. Although it has been installed for a week, the bin was almost empty.
Photo by Shim Seong-a

According to the Ministry of Environment, as of 2022, the usage of disposable cups totaled 23.1 billion, including 17.2 billion paper cups and 5.9 billion plastic cups. Of the annually disposed paper cups (201,000 tons), 87.1% (175,000 tons) are incinerated in volume-based waste bags, and only 12.9% (26,000 tons) are separated for recycling. For plastic cups, 54.1% (33,000 tons) of the disposed amount (61,000 tons) are discarded in volume-based waste bags.

Seoul City is implementing a ‘Disposable Cup Collection Pilot Project’ in the ‘Eco Zone’ around Gwanghwamun to Namdaemun until the end of this year. The aim is to expand recycling by collecting disposable cups used for packaging by consumers. By installing the ‘Resource Circulation Deposit’ application and returning designated disposable cups engraved with identification codes to unmanned collection machines, consumers can receive 100 won per cup.

Hong Soo-yeol, director of the Resource Circulation Social Economy Research Institute, advised, “The original purpose of the Eco Zone project was to implement the ‘Disposable Cup Deposit System,’ but now that goal has disappeared, making the purposes and expected effects of other projects all ambiguous,” adding, “A comprehensive plan on how to manage disposable cups must be established first for these series of policies to be effective.”