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| Snacks delivered through a food delivery service app are put in containers all made of plastic. / Korea Times file |
By Jung Hae-myoung
The central and local governments have been making efforts to reduce plastic use, including the Ministry of Environment banning plastic cups in coffee shops last August.
But questions are rising over how effective the ban is when the use of the cups is only the tip of the iceberg, considering plastic use in the ever-growing delivery service market.
Park, 27, a salaried woman, joined the zero-waste movement as a New Year's resolution. However, she only recently realized the amount of plastic she was using every time she ordered food.
"Delivery food was a habit for me because I can just order a meal by one touch on my smartphone," Park told The Korea Times. "But after I committed to the movement, I could see everything I used was plastic."
One Korean meal usually comes with a main soup, rice and multiple side dishes that are all in plastic containers. Most of them cannot be recycled with food remains. Spoons and chopsticks are also disposable.
In Korea, the food delivery service business has expanded rapidly.
According to the Korea Franchise Association and food delivery app providers, the number of delivery app users increased from 870,000 in 2013 to 25 million in 2018.
The government and app providers estimate 334.7 billion won ($298 million) of plastic products were used in 2013, growing to 3 trillion won in 2018. According to the Korea Zero Waste Movement Network (KZWMN), about 500,000 food deliveries are made daily, with nine plastic containers per service on average, which means 4.5 million disposable products are wasted a day and 150 million a year.
"We are aware of the significant amount of plastic usage, but nothing has been discussed yet in the company," one of the major delivery service providers said.
"We have been discussing how to deal with issues over plastic, but the main problem is the cost," a staffer from Woowa Brothers, one of the most popular delivery service app businesses, said. "Paper packaging costs four times more than plastic."
This is not just a food delivery problem. Overuse of stuffing in parcel deliveries is adding to the problem.
In 2018, online shopping mall Coupang launched the "Rocket Fresh Service" that delivers fresh ingredients such as vegetables, meat and eggs to customers' doors.
This has gained huge popularity among single-person households and working parents who don't have time to grocery shop during the day, but also brought criticism for overuse of packaging materials such as huge polystyrene boxes compared to the size the content.
Other online malls providing similar services, including Ticket Monster and Market Curly, face similar problems as they also use foiled ice packs and bubble wrap to maintain food freshness and protect it.
According to the business, about a third of a parcel's volume is air caps. For some electronic devices, such as phone chargers, the contents take up only 20 percent of the volume of the parcel box, with the rest packaging.
Parcel service use per person increased 18 times from 2.5 in 2000 to 45 in 2018, according to the Korea Integrated Logistics Association.
As the problem of disposable materials from the growing online delivery industry is expected to grow, the Ministry of Environment on Jan. 16 announced a plan to enforce a revised ordinance on recycling and resources saving, which is expected to take effect in the latter half of this year.
The new regulations include banning unnecessary double packaging, replacing air caps with paper buffers and introducing more eco-friendly ice packs.
However, industry watchers and environment groups say the rules will not be a practical solution to the problem, considering the rapid growth of the online market and delivery services in Korea.
"The online shopping industry is the one that uses the most plastic packaging," an industry source said on condition of anonymity. "The ministry never actually held any public hearing or meeting with the online distribution companies."
"Regulating coffee houses is an easy option that can end up being superficial policy," Hong Soo-yeol, the director of Recycling Social Cooperation, said. "Now is the time to consider using eco-friendly containers for food even though the packaging cost would rise."
"Another way is to financially support companies that rent out reusable bowls and cutlery," Kim Mi-hwa, the chairwoman of the KZWMN, said.
"Most food delivery service providers use plastic because it is easy to throw it away without cleaning it. But if there are other businesses that lend dishes and clean them with a reasonable price, food delivery companies will be willing to use more reusable products," Kim said. "A slight change in thinking can lead to a virtuous cycle of sustainable business."
