• Goals to reduce disposal of plastic by 10%, increase recycling rate from 69% to 79% through comprehensive countermeasures to reduce disposable plastics
• Reduction of plastic production and consumption, creating a circular economy
• Disposable cup deposit system starting in 2025 in Hangang Park and Seoul City Hall to gradually expand into “zero-plastic zones”

The Seoul Metropolitan Government (SMG) announced plans to transform the city by promoting a circular economy that “creates resources from all waste,” including waste vinyl, sewing fabrics, and banners. In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, the city first plans to address the drastically increased production of plastic with goals to reduce production by 10% and increase the recycling rate by 10% percentage points.

Beginning in 2025, the city will implement a “disposable cup deposit system” that charges consumers ₩300 when using a disposable cup while also designating areas in Hangang Park as “disposable delivery container-free zones.”

In addition, “construction resource circulation design guidelines” are being prepared that include increasing the number of recycling spaces to 20,000 within the city to make recycling more convenient for residents of single-family homes, as well as building spaces in new construction or during small-scale housing maintenance projects.

The city laid out these major details on Thu, Sep. 7 in the published Comprehensive Countermeasures for Reducing Disposable Plastics. The countermeasures strive to create a “virtuous cycle for reducing plastic” with an emphasis on reducing production, distribution, and consumption of plastics while dedicating efforts to recycle as much existing plastic as possible.

Through these countermeasures, Seoul has set goals to reduce everyday plastic production from the current 2,753 tons to 2,478 tons (a reduction of 10%, or 275 tons) by 2026 and increase the recycling rate from 69% to 79%.

The Comprehensive Countermeasures for Reducing Disposable Plastics include three core goals that aim to promote healthy living without disposable plastics, expand infrastructure to enable recycling, and create a circular economy. The countermeasures also include 22 detailed tasks for accomplishing these three core goals. The city is also focused on attracting active participation from the citizenry to build a consensus, recognizing that “citizen participation” is critical for resource circulation.

The city plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by about 140,000 tons and create 2,200 jobs through these comprehensive countermeasures.