Reasons for Proposal
Korea's annual plastic waste increased by 36% from 5.65 million tons in 2011 to 7.19 million tons in 2017, and packaging waste increased exponentially due to the development of the delivery culture and the normalization of untact life caused by the prolonged COVID-19, making the disposal of plastic waste more problematic.
The waste issue is derived from disposable packaging waste, and the international community has begun to recognize the urgency of addressing the issue of disposable plastic packaging materials. The EU is managing waste as resources since its declaration to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050 and working towards the set goal of increasing the recycling rate for all packaging waste to 65% by 2025 and 70% by 2030. After the declaration of its goal to reach net-zero by 2050 made in December 2020, Korea is also promoting the circular economy through a carbon neutral strategy.
In line with the global trend, it is essential to implement policies in consideration of the environment, and therefore, it is necessary to create an efficient management system to reduce the use of natural resources and increase the use of circular resources so as to promote resource circulation. In particular, as for plastics that are heavily used and give rise to severe environmental issues, resource circulation can be enhanced by increasing the use of recycled PET (R-PET) for disposable PET beverage packaging materials, and decreasing the use of PET (virgin PET) extracted from petroleum.
Therefore, the Act aims to require manufacturers or importers of disposable beverage packaging materials to manufacture or import those that satisfy certain standards, such as the content of recycled plastic.
In addition, it is to allow the Minister of Environment to investigate whether manufacturers and importers of disposable beverage packaging materials comply with the applicable standards, and require the Minister to prepare and announce the associated status and improvement plans each year so as to promote resource circulation (Article 11-2 newly inserted).
Major Provisions
Article 11-2 (Consideration of Resource Circulation of Disposable Beverage Packaging Materials, etc.)
