SEOUL: South Korea has won international praise for its disposal efforts, but as it prepares to host deals for a global plastic waste deal, experts say the government’s approach highlights its limitations.
When the INC-5 talks in Busan start the following year, it is anticipated that there will be a discussion about whether a UN convention may attempt to limit the amount of plastic being produced first.
In earlier rounds, opponents of such a strategy have argued that countries should concentrate on less controversial issues like plastic waste management, including key plastic and petroleum producers like Saudi Arabia and China.
South Korea claims to recycle 73 % of its plastic waste, compared to the US, which is about 5 to 6 %, and it might serve as a case study for a waste management strategy.
South Korea is ranked as “one of the country’s best disposal markets,” according to the bi-monthly MIT Technology Review magazine, and it is the only Asian nation to place in the top 10 in the 2022 Green Future Index.
However, waste management industry employees and climate activists claim that recycling rates do not accurately represent the recycling rate.
South Korea’s claimed rate of 73 per cent “is a fake number, because it just counts plastic waste that arrived at the disposal testing center- whether it is recycled, incinerated, or landfilled finally, we do n’t know”, said Seo Hee-won, a scientist at nearby activist group Climate Change Center.
According to Greenpeace, only 27 % of South Korea’s full plastic waste is recycled. According to the environment ministry, there are variations in the definition of waste, recycling methods, and analytical calculations, making it challenging to examine items in the same way.
According to activists, South Korea’s plastic waste generation increased from 9.6 million tonnes in 2019 to 12.6 million tonnes in 2022, a 31 % increase over the previous three years, partially offset by the increased plastic packaging used to package food, gifts, and other online orders that exploded during the pandemic. Data for 2023 has not been released.
According to business, government, and activist options, a significant portion of that vinyl is not being recycled, often for financial reasons.
At a shuttered plastic recycling page in Asan, about 85km north of Seoul, a hill of about 19, 000 tonnes of finely ground plastic waste is piled up treated, emitting a somewhat nasty smell. The owner had encountered financial issues, according to local officials, who could not provide more details.
” It will probably take more than  , ₩2 billion-₩3 billion ( US$ 1.43 million-US$ 2.14 million ) to remove”, said an Asan regional government official. The owner is alleged to be unable to pay, so we do n’t give the cleanup a high priority.
According to a 2017 study, more than 90 % of plastic waste is dumped or incinerated because it is not cheap to recycle.