| A worker sorts recyclable material from plastic waste at a landfill site in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, Oct. 19. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk |
By Bae Eun-joo
The coronavirus pandemic has sparked a massive demand for and use of plastics.
The increasing necessity of face masks, plastic gloves and disinfecting wipes, which have become everyday items for most, is creating a plastic pandemic. Intensifying the rise in plastic demand, social distancing restrictions have quarantined people at home and as a result they have started relying more on online shopping and food delivery services.
| Plastic waste is delivered to a recycling facility after being compressed. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk |
The protective measures against virus infection are creating higher consumption of single-use goods including takeaway food containers, delivery packages and bubble wrap for online shopping. Plastic packaging for food delivery is crucial and the rising popularity of next-day delivery services associated with over-packaging is creating environmental hazards at an alarming rate.
South Korea was one of the world's largest consumers of plastic per capita even before the pandemic exacerbated this tsunami of trash. The average Korean uses 11.5 kilograms of plastic each year. That includes 96 plastic bottles, 65 plastic cups and 460 plastic bags per person, according to a 2019 Greenpeace report.
| It can take more than 500 years for used plastics to naturally degrade fully when released into the environment. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk |
Once discarded these single-use disposables are usually found at coastal areas. Unsurprisingly over 80 percent of coastal waste turns out to be plastic. About 43.6 percent of waste plastics are recycled but much of the waste is sent to landfills or incinerated.
South Korea has traditionally exported a large volume of plastic waste but, with China and the Philippines declaring an end to waste imports recently, the nation is faced with a serious challenge. A lack of waste management facilities adds to the spike of waste dumping, resulting in mountains of garbage across the country. Over 235 mountains of garbage were reported in Korea in 2019.
| It can take more than 500 years for used plastics to naturally degrade fully when released into the environment. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk |
| Workers sort plastic waste on a conveyor belt at a recycling center. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk |
The plastic pandemic poses a long-term challenge for the Seoul metropolitan area as the Sudokwon Landfill Site, one of the world's largest waste landfill sites, in Incheon is set to close in 2025 after over 20 years of operation. Launched in 1992, it receives an average of 12,000 tons of garbage every day, mostly home- and construction-related waste from 22 million residents of Seoul, Incheon and Gyeonggi Province.
| A total of 46 tons of waste is brought into the Yongin landfill site daily. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk |
Spanning 1.48 million square meters in size, the Sudokwon Landfill Site is designed to process 12,000 tons of daily waste however over 13,000 tons are currently brought in every day. At this rate, the landfill site will exceed its capacity by November 2024, much earlier than the expected August 2025.