Accordingly, parks along the Korean River in Seoul will ban food contained in single-use plastic boxes starting this year for the park area on Jamsu Bridge, followed by Ttukseom and Banpo parks next year, and the entire Korean river from 2025.
Seoul's government announced that it will expand its "Zero Restaurant" service, which includes multi-use food containers when delivering to customers via apps, from 10 districts to Seoul by 2026.
To increase the recycling rate, Seoul has decided to extend the separate classification system for transparent PET bottles and nylon bags that has been deployed since 2021; supporting the replacement of recycled garbage with conventional trash bags under regulation, which require money to buy.
Statistics say plastic waste treatment alone produces 405,000 tons of greenhouse gases annually.
To reduce the use of single-use cups, Seoul will introduce a one-time deposit from 2025. Accordingly, customers will have to deposit 300 won (0.22 USD) when using a one-time cup in cafes. Those who bring their own glasses to the cafés to order drinks will receive a direct 300 won discount under the "extra discount for their own cups" scheme.
It will be piloted at 100 coffee shops in Seoul by November this year and officially launched next year.
In addition, new technologies will be introduced to modernize and automate the recycled garbage sorting facilities. The Seoul City Government has decided to increase the handling capacity of the garbage sorting facilities in Eunpyeong, Gangnam and Gangdong districts by 2024, and extend the operation of the artificial intelligence (AI) sorting robot in operation in Dobong district to all public waste sorting installations by 2026.
