Attention on 'Green Steps' Through Circular Economy of Waste Plastic Resources

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Hye-sun] The distribution industry is gaining attention by introducing goods made from recycled plastic.

Recently, as issues caused by waste plastic have come to the forefront, there is an active movement to recycle used plastic and transform it into new resources. While efforts to reduce the production of new plastic are necessary, awareness is spreading that ‘upcycling’?the effort to rebirth already used plastic into high-quality resources?is also essential.

In fact, recycling plastic that has already been used has advantages not only economically but also environmentally. According to a study by the U.S. environmental consulting firm ERG, recycling PET (polyethylene terephthalate) plastic can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 67% compared to producing new plastic.

On the other hand, in South Korea, although the separation rate of used beverage PET bottles and disposable delivery containers is high, the actual amount recycled remains minimal. According to a Greenpeace report, it is estimated that only 23% of waste plastic generated domestically is effectively recycled.

According to industry sources on the 7th, beverage PET bottles are considered a representative material that is easy to process into high-quality resources. Made from a single material, PET, which is one type of plastic, they have low contamination levels and are lightweight and durable, allowing them to be recycled into high value-added products such as clothing and childcare items.

Korea Coca-Cola recently launched Season 2 of the ‘Plastic Used One More Time: Wonderful Campaign’ (hereafter Wonderful Campaign) to expand the resource circulation experience where used beverage PET bottles are properly disposed of and returned as useful resources.

Season 2 of the Wonderful Campaign aims to establish resource circulation of beverage PET bottles with high value as high-quality resources by engaging a total of 4,200 consumers, 1,400 per session, over three sessions.

The collected beverage PET bottles from participants will go through a recycling process and be returned to participants as insulated bags called ‘Coca-Cola Albi Bag (I’ll be bag),’ symbolizing the beverage PET bottles’ return in a new form after one use. This allows participants to experience the resource circulation process where easily discarded beverage PET bottles are properly separated and reborn as useful items.

Previously, Season 1 of the Wonderful Campaign, held in December last year, collected a total of 11.3 tons of plastic, including disposable delivery containers and beverage PET bottles, which have surged due to COVID-19. These were transformed into label removers called ‘Kwaktta,’ camping boxes, and other items, which were then redistributed to participants. With 3,000 consumers participating, the zero-waste box filled with used plastic achieved a collection rate of 77.6%, confirming consumers’ high interest in eco-friendliness.

Hyundai Home Shopping recently introduced eco-friendly bags upcycled from collected waste PET bottles through a recycling campaign. They sold eco-friendly knit pleats bags made from waste PET bottles on the Shopping Live corner of the Hyundai H Mall mobile app’s live commerce section.

Earlier, in May, Hyundai Home Shopping conducted a campaign with eco-friendly fashion startup PLEATS MAMA to collect and recycle transparent beverage PET bottles. They installed ‘Transparent Waste PET Bottle Collection Boxes’ in about 10 apartment complexes in the metropolitan area and collected approximately 40,000 beverage PET bottles.

Lock&Lock recently introduced the ‘Come Bag’ eco bag made from plastic airtight containers. This eco-friendly bag was upcycled from plastic airtight containers collected through the company’s year-round resource circulation campaign, ‘Love for Planet.’

Outdoor brands are also launching clothing made by recycling used plastic. The North Face released 16 items in the ‘The North Face K Eco Samdasoo Collection,’ made by recycling 100 tons of PET bottles collected from Jeju Island.

Black Yak launched the industry’s first eco-friendly product collection made from used beverage PET bottles in Korea, called the ‘PLUStIC Collection.’ The collection includes T-shirts, jackets, and pants. Each product uses at least 15 to more than 30 PET bottles based on 500ml beverage PET bottles.

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