CU-Neople Launches Eco-Friendly Campaign to Reduce Plastic Bag Usage

A CU employee is handing an eco-friendly paper bag made from recycled pulp to a customer. (Photo by BGF Retail)

[Asia Economy Reporter Seungjin Lee] BGF Retail, the operator of CU, announced on the 14th that it has partnered with game developer Neople to launch the ‘We Make Green Jeju’ campaign from this month to reduce the use of plastic bags in the Jeju area.

This campaign is an eco-friendly consumption activity aimed at reducing plastic bag usage. From the 1st of this month until the end of next year, CU will provide customers with eco-friendly paper bags free of charge instead of plastic bags at about 150 stores located in tourist areas across Jeju.

The eco-friendly paper bags are made by reprocessing recycled pulp and naturally decompose within several months after disposal. The size is generous enough to hold more than 10 cans of 500ml beverages, and the exterior carries an environmental protection message encouraging users to ‘use at least three times.’

Neople, which shares the goal of reducing plastic bag usage, plans to support 1,000 paper bags per month for each CU store participating in this campaign. During the campaign period, approximately 2.25 million paper bags will replace plastic bags.

CU expects that if the provided paper bags are reused at least three times, more than 10 million plastic bags can be reduced. This amount exceeds the annual number of plastic bags sold at CU stores in the Jeju area.

This campaign was planned following Neople’s proposal after experiencing the ‘Don’t Use’ campaign last October, where 30,000 eco-bags were provided to customers instead of plastic bags at some CU stores in Aewol-eup, Jeju.

BGF Retail continues various eco-friendly activities, including corporate collaborations like this.

Based on over 14,000 CU stores nationwide, BGF Retail is striving to create an eco-friendly consumption environment through initiatives such as ▲operating the industry’s only eco-friendly convenience store ‘Green Store’ ▲obtaining the industry’s first environmental management system ISO14001 certification ▲introducing biodegradable eco-friendly bags (PLA) in directly managed stores nationwide ▲using eco-friendly containers (PLA) for ready-to-eat meals.

In particular, this year, BGF Retail signed a business agreement with Samsung Card for environmental protection, raised environmental funds by selling eco-bags made from fibers extracted from waste plastic, and partnered with the Ministry of Environment to use nationwide stores as promotional venues for environmental messages aimed at reducing greenhouse gases.

Jongseong Park, head of BGF Retail’s Management Planning Team, said, “In line with the era of mandatory environmental protection, we decided to provide paper bags to create conditions for eco-friendly consumption so that anyone can easily practice environmental protection.” He added, “Going forward, BGF Retail will continue to be a friendly company that transforms into a daily eco-friendly platform by utilizing its nationwide store network.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.