Emart to Collect Used Plastic Wraps from Retail Stores for Recycling into New Film

Joint Declaration on Collection and Recycling of Stretch Film for Logistics

[Asia Economy Reporter Joo Sang-don] On the morning of the 6th, the Ministry of Environment held a joint declaration agreement ceremony for 'Stretch Film Collection and Recycling Expansion' at the Emart headquarters together with Emart and the Resource Circulation Solidarity.

Stretch film is a thin plastic wrap mainly used in logistics centers or industrial sites, used to wrap and secure stacked goods so they do not shake during transportation.

In this agreement, Emart agreed to minimize the use of stretch film for logistics packaging, but to collect and recycle stretch film that is inevitably used, and the Resource Circulation Solidarity agreed to verify this and promote and spread the business achievements.

Taking this agreement as an opportunity, Emart will launch a pilot project to independently collect all used stretch film discarded at logistics centers and stores, undergo a depolymerization process, and then reproduce and use it as recycled stretch film.

The reduction amount of plastic waste from this pilot project is expected to reach 1,660 tons annually, and the reduction amount of greenhouse gases is expected to reach 1,613 tons annually. It is significant in that Emart is the first in the domestic distribution industry to seek a resource circulation plan through reverse collection of stretch film for logistics packaging.

The Ministry of Environment is actively promoting institutional improvements to expand the collection and recycling of plastic products and packaging materials and to promote high value-added recycling.

Following the implementation of the 'Food-grade Transparent PET Bottle Separate Collection and Collection Project' since December last year, the Ministry is preparing quality and recognition standards for recycled raw materials to manufacture plastics collected through this project back into food containers, together with the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety.

In July this year, the Ministry announced a legislative notice to amend the 'Resource Recycling Act Enforcement Decree' to add plastic product groups such as industrial films to the mandatory targets of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR). Accordingly, from 2022, the producers of these products will be sequentially obligated to actively collect and recycle them for management.

Seo Young-tae, Director of the Resource Recycling Division at the Ministry of Environment, said, "This agreement is a model case for establishing a reverse collection system for plastic waste, and we expect active participation from the distribution industry including Emart."

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