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Plastic waste in South Korea - statistics and facts

Plastic is widely used in daily life and in various industries due to their lightweight design and low cost. In modern society, living without plastic would be almost impossible in everyday life. However, as the world's plastic production increases, the amount of plastic waste also increases, with problems related to such waste occurring across the globe. South Korea, which is also guilty of high plastic consumption per capita, is facing problems caused by restrictions on plastic exports and the increase of plastic waste generation. Plastic, initially used for convenience, is now being recognized as a detriment to the environment and public health.

How is plastic waste generated in South Korea?

Plastic consumption in South Korea is steadily increasing. In modern Korean society, where everything is busy and a convenience-oriented lifestyle is pursued by many, people tend to use more single-use plastic items. In fact, plastic consumption in South Korea is significantly higher than most countries. Accordingly, the South Korean government has imposed restrictions on the use of disposable cups in cafes and fast-food restaurants. The number of disposable cups used in the southern Korean peninsula seems to be decreasing as a result. Courier packaging and the overpacking of consumer goods also account for a large share of plastic consumption. With the availability of next-day delivery and food delivery, plastic packaging for food delivery is widely used. Discarded plastic items from such products were commonly found in coastal areas, and it accounted for the majority of coastal waste.

How does South Korea deal with plastic waste?

Historical data shows thataround 62 percent of plastic waste generated in South Korea were recycled as energy or materials. Generally, household plastic waste items are small in size and not properly separated, so they are often sent to landfill or incinerated. South Korea's waste discharge system mainly consists of two methods: pay-as-you-go and separate discharge. For the former, people pay for a pay-as-you-go bag and discharge waste in the bag, with the local municipalities collecting these bags. Separation discharge is a method of discarding waste separately for recyclable materials such as plastic, paper, and bottles.

International trade of plastic waste

South Korea has traditionally exported a large volume of plastic waste to other countries, although the amount has largely decreased in recent years. With China and the Philippines halting waste imports a few years ago, this posed a challenge for the nation. Due to the lack of domestic waste treatment facilities and a backlog of unexportable waste, there was a risk of newly generated waste not being able to be sorted in a timely manner. This led to the problem of illegal waste dumping, which produces literal mountains of garbage. In 2019, around 235 mountains of garbage were found in South Korea.

What is the public sentiment regarding plastic waste?

According to a survey, many South Koreans are concerned about pollution and answered that all stakeholders, whether it be plastic packaging producers or sellers, the government, or the consumers, have a responsibility to reduce the use of plastics and packaging materials. In particular, there was a call for more regulations on the use of plastic packaging. Additionally, the results of another survey showed that South Koreans are trying to reuse disposable products or use products made from recyclable materials as a way of using less plastic. Additionally, survey results depicted various difficulties for people to properly recycle plastic products.
This text provides general information. Statista assumes no liability for the information given being complete or correct. Due to varying update cycles, statistics can display more up-to-date data than referenced in the text.
Published by Statista Research Department, Sep 26, 2022

Key insights

Share of plastic coastal waste
90.5%
Plastic waste recycling rate
55.8%
Single-use plastic bag consumption
23.5 bn bags
Get more insights

Editor’s Picks Current statistics on this topic

Recycling rate of plastic waste in South Korea from 2008 to 2020

Recycling & Recovery

Plastic waste recycling rate South Korea 2008-2020

Distribution of waste generated in South Korea in 2020, by type of waste

Waste Disposal

Waste generation distribution South Korea 2020, by type of waste

Leading destinations of plastic waste exported from South Korea in 2021, based on export volume (in 1,000 tons)

Waste Management

Plastic waste export destinations South Korea 2021

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