The Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment (MCEE, Minister Kim Sunghwan) announced that it will sign a “Business Agreement to Expand the Production of Standard Waste Bags Using Recycled Raw Materials” with related organizations, including the recycled raw material production and standard waste bag manufacturing industries, at the conference hall of the Korea Agro-Fisheries Recycling Cooperative (located in Yeongdeungpo-gu, Seoul) on the afternoon of April 13.

The industries and organizations participating in the agreement on this day include the Korea Federation of Plastics Industry Cooperatives (KFPIC), the Korea Agro-Fisheries Recycling Cooperative (KARC), the Korea Environment Corporation (KECO), Intech, and Dongsung.

This agreement was established as recycled raw materials, alternative materials made from waste resources, have emerged as a solution to overcome the crisis, amid difficulties in the supply of polyethylene, the raw material for standard waste bags, due to the prolonged conflict in the Middle East.

The agreement reflects a shared commitment among the government, the recycled raw material production industry, and the standard waste bag manufacturing industry to expand the production and distribution of standard waste bags using high-quality recycled raw materials. It also includes plans to share related production information and technologies and to strengthen mutually beneficial cooperation across the overall industry ecosystem for standard waste bags.

First, the MCEE will focus its efforts on administrative and financial support to promote the distribution of standard waste bags made with recycled raw materials. This includes allocating 13.8 billion won in this year’s supplementary budget to address the economic fallout from the Middle East conflict to support the replacement of waste bag production facilities. 

The KARC will work to establish a recycling system and support facility improvements to ensure a stable supply of recycled raw materials with consistent quality.

The KFPIC will expand the use of recycled raw materials in waste bags and, together with the KARC, conduct verification of the quality of recycled raw materials.

Exemplary companies in the use of recycled raw materials, such as Intech and Dongsung, will also participate in the agreement as part of mutually beneficial cooperation, providing technical advice and support to the standard waste bag manufacturing industry, while the KECO plans to establish and operate a management system to ensure smooth linkage between supply and demand by providing recycled raw material production information to waste bag manufacturers.

The MiCEE plans to use this agreement as a model case for establishing a cooperative framework to ensure smooth linkage between the manufacturing and recycling industries and to consider measures to continuously expand the use of recycled raw materials to other product categories. 

Minister Kim Sunghwan of the MCEE stated, “Recycled raw materials made from domestic waste resources are a strong foundation for our resource supply chain.” He added, “In cooperation with industry, we will increase the use of recycled raw materials starting with standard waste bags and develop this into a model case of a ‘circular economy’ that remains resilient even in the face of external shocks such as the conflict in the Middle East.”

For further information, please contact the Public Relations Division. 

Contact person: Gina Lee, foreign media spokesperson

Phone: +82-44-201-6055

Email: gcjgina @gmail.com