The Ministry of Environment (Minister Cho Myung-rae) announced that its Korean partner companies for the 'Pilot Project for the Separate Disposal of Transparent Used Plastic Bottles', implemented in February 2020, produced high-quality recycled products (clothing, bags, cosmetic bottles, etc.) with plastic bottle waste.

* From February 2020, separate collection boxes for transparent used plastic bottles were installed in apartment houses and main collection facilities, and plastic bags for separate disposal of the bottles were given to single-family houses in Seoul, Jeju Island (Jeju, Seogwipo), Cheonan, Gimhae, and Busan.

The partnership with companies was formed as a part of the 'Reinforcement of Exchanges for Public-Private Partnerships', one of the innovation goals of the government. The production of recycled products is a meaningful achievement because Korean companies produced high-quality recycled products with domestic plastic bottle waste for the first time*. 

* Until now, only imported plastic waste was used to produce recycled long fiber and clothing (22,000 tons, annual estimation), and only about ten percent of domestic plastic waste was recycled as high-quality products (28,000 tons among 290,000 tons). 

Pleats Mama and Hyosung TNC made knitted clothing and bags with the plastic bottle waste collected in Jeju Special Self-Governing Province. Black Yak, Kolon FnC and TK Chemical made functional clothing with the bottle waste collected by Sparkle (reversed recovery*).

* A system that deliverers of bottled water ordered online recover used water bottles at the time of delivery

From June, SM TK Chemical started bottle to bottle (B to B) recycling, producing cosmetic bottles with transparent used plastic bottles that were separated collected in Cheonan.

To enhance future performance based on the results of this pilot project, the ministry will improve each stage for producing recycled products: collection, sorting, recycling, and product production.

First, the Guidelines for the Separate Collection of Recyclable Resources, etc. will be revised to collect clean transparent plastic bottles individually. Following the pilot project, the scope of the separate disposal of transparent used plastic bottles will be extended to every apartment houses nationwide starting from December 2020. Single-family houses will follow suit from December 2021.

Second, the ways to dispose each type of material will be added to the current Separate Waste Disposal Labelling System in the second half of 2020. The ministry will actively promote the change for easier separate waste disposal.

Finally, the government and private sector cooperation for recycled products will be extended to use the plastic bottles collected from other regions besides Jeju Island and Cheonan. The scope of cooperation will be extended in every stage including sorting, recycling (producing recycled materials), processing recycled materials, and producing final products

From July, a government-private cooperation system will be established through a public invitation of private companies to increase types of recycled products. In addition, support projects will be implemented if investment in facilities is required to upgrade facilities to produce high-quality recycled materials or replace imported recycled materials with Korean recycled materials. 

An institutional framework to create demands for recycled materials will be established as well.

From 2021, contributions to Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR*) scheme will be differentiated based on the use of recycled materials. Quality standards for recycled materials will be made to ensure customer satisfaction.

* A system that requires producers to take full responsibility for the waste generated from their products and packaging. The producers recover and recycle the waste by themselves or pay contributions for it.

Extension of the government-private cooperation and improvement of related systems will convert the structure of the recycling industry in Korea in line with a circular economy, from quantitative recycling to qualitative recycling, and encourage Korean companies to increase investment in recycled materials and make preparation to enter the global market for recycled products. 

Coca-Cola and other international companies in Korea already announced their own targets to increase the use of recycled materials. Recently, Estee Lauder Korea and Henkel Korea started producing cosmetic bottles with domestic recycled materials. 

The scale of the global plastic bottle recycling market is estimated to be $6.8 billion (44.8% of the textile market), and it is expected to increase to $12.5 billion (about 15 trillion won) by 2026 with the expansion of recycled material use.

※ Analysis and forecast on global plastic bottle recycling market (2018 - 2026) (Acumen Research and Consulting, published in August 2019)

Although Korea reused 237,000 tons of plastic bottle waste in 2018 (increased by 50,000 tons compared to 2014), most of it (55%) was used to make short fiber, including non-woven fabric and cotton. Following the result of the pilot project, if the production of more valuable recycled products, including long fiber products (clothing, etc.) increases up to 100,000 tons, 420 billion won worth of new market will be created. 

※ Estimated with the price of the long fiber (PF) approved by the Global Recycled Standard ($3,500 per ton) and an exchange rate of 1,200 won per dollar. ('Rising Trend of in the Textile Industry' by Korea Federation of Textile Industries, published in December 2019)

"Increasing the use of recycled materials is a global trend to build a foundation for the transition from a linear economy to a circular economy. Following to trend is not an option," stated Director General Lee Young-gi of the Resources Circulation Bureau of the Ministry of Environment. 

"We will provide proactive support for Korean companies and change relevant systems swiftly to promote a smooth transition to a circular economy."