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| A customer puts groceries into a cardboard box at a Seoul-based discount store, Wednesday, when the four major retailers stopped providing packaging tape and strings. / Yonhap |
By Kang Seung-woo
Consumers are complaining of local retail stores' double-dealing regarding their commitment to reducing plastic packaging materials.
Staring this year, the nation's four major retailers ― Emart, Lotte Mart, Homeplus and Nonghyup Hanaro Mart ― have halted the provision of packaging tape and string that shoppers used in packaging purchases in cardboard boxes to carry their groceries home, after agreeing with the Ministry of Environment last August.
While customers are participating in the "uncomfortable" campaign, retail stores do not seem to share the burden with their clients as they are still using tape for their buy-one-get-one offers and freebies attached to products.
"When I heard that retail stores would no longer provide tape and string for cardboard boxes used to carry groceries, I thought the government had good intentions, though they may not have fully thought it through," a 32-year-old officer worker said on condition of anonymity.
"However, if the government and retailers are inconveniencing consumers to reduce plastic waste, they are also required to make the same efforts to that end. Retailers still use tape and other plastic packaging. They should have set an example by making active efforts to go green before asking their consumers to do so."
On Aug. 29, when the environment minister met with representatives of the four retailers, they initially reached an agreement to stop offering paper boxes as well as tape and string in order to encourage shoppers to use reusable shopping bags and reduce waste.
However, in the wake of growing criticism that it is too harsh to prohibit the provision of recyclable cardboard boxes, the retailers decided to remove only tape and string from their D.I.Y. packing stations outside the cashier lines. According to the environment ministry, 658 tons of tape and string come from the packing stations annually.
However, critics say using cardboard boxes for heavy purchases without tape or string could damage the goods inside. To help consumers adjust to the change, major retailers are providing reusable shopping bags that shoppers can buy or borrow.
"The government needs to explore ways to crack down on retailers' own excessive packaging of goods over regulations mainly inconveniencing consumers," a housewife surnamed Jeong said.
The ban on tape and string is the nation's latest measure to fight plastic waste, aimed at reducing plastic waste by 50 percent by 2030. It seeks to also increase the recycling rate from 34 percent to 70 percent during the same period.
In November, the government rolled out a plan to ban paper cups at cafes, restaurants and fast food stores in 2021. Also, disposable takeaway containers will cost extra.
Since the beginning of last year, the government has banned use of disposable plastic bags at discount stores and large supermarkets as plastic pollution has been emerging as a serious environmental problem.
