International Industrial Ecology Day 2021

South Korea’s management of plastics: Establishing plastics physical accounts for the year 2017-2019

Abstract

As one of the world’s top producers and top consumers of plastics, Korea has been experiencing problems with regard to the management of waste plastics since 2018, such as collection service disruptions, illegal abandonment and exports of waste. To gain a complete understanding of Korea’s contemporary management of plastics, this study quantified national plastic flows across production, use, and end-of-life management between 2017 and 2019. In 2017, Korea produced 17.5 million metric tons of plastic resins, more than half of which was exported, and consumed 7 million metric tons of plastic products including 3.2 million metric tons of packaging. On a per-capita basis, Korea’s plastic consumption and waste generation were higher than that of other major economies, such as Japan, China, the United States, and Europe, which implies considerable potential for plastic consumption reduction. Despite the high level of waste generation, Korea has increased the level of material recycling while minimizing the landfill rate by implementing various policies, such as waste levies, voluntary agreements, and extended producer responsibility. For more sustainable plastic management, Korea must make additional effort to reduce plastic consumption and promote high-quality recycling, for example through circular design, business models with less packaging, and advanced technologies.

Author(s)

Name Affiliation
Yongchul Jang Korea university
Jooyoung Park Seoul National University
Minhee Son Energy Studies Institute, National University of Singapore

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