Consumer Agency: Ordering Delivery Food 3 Times a Week Leads to 10.8kg of Plastic Use Per Person Annually

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeon Jinyoung] As the number of consumers ordering delivery food increases due to the impact of COVID-19, the use of disposable plastics is also rapidly increasing.

On the 24th, the Korea Consumer Agency conducted a survey on the use of plastic containers for delivery food and found that an average of 18.3 pieces (147.7g) were used per menu item. Users who order delivery food an average of 2.8 times per week used an average of 1,341.6 pieces (about 10.8kg) of plastic delivery containers per person annually.

The Consumer Agency pointed out that the plastic used for delivery containers accounts for 12% of the annual plastic usage per capita in the country.

However, excluding non-recyclable materials and sealing containers among plastic delivery containers, only 45.5% of the total weight was found to be recyclable.

The Consumer Agency analyzed that if plastic delivery containers are switched to recyclable materials and small side dish containers are standardized into integrated or large sizes, the actual recycling rate could be increased to about 78.5% by improving the currently used plastic containers.

Based on this survey result, the Consumer Agency recommended that delivery application (app) operators actively support consumers and food service businesses that practice plastic reduction, such as using their own containers. They also plan to request the Ministry of Environment to restrict non-recyclable materials among plastic delivery containers and to prepare standardization measures for containers.

Consumers were urged to actively use options such as not accepting disposable spoons when ordering delivery food and excluding unnecessary side dishes, and to actively participate in eco-friendly consumption through the use of reusable containers or their own containers.

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