South Korea to Cut Virgin Plastic Use by 30% by 2030 in Shift to Circular Economy

The government will step up its shift to a “plastic-free circular economy,” aiming to cut plastic waste by 2030 and reduce the use of virgin plastic made from oil and naphtha by at least 30%.

Climate, Energy and Environment Minister Kim Seong-hwan reported the “Action Plan for Transition to a Plastic-Free Circular Economy” to a Cabinet meeting on Monday, outlining measures to expand recycling and curb demand for new plastic.

The plan is being pushed as a key national policy task as the recent war in the Middle East has made supplies of oil and naphtha — key plastic feedstocks — more uncertain. The government said it aims to build a sustainable circular economy ecosystem and strengthen industrial competitiveness.
 
The government will gradually expand mandatory use of recycled materials. The current requirement for PET bottles — 10% recycled content starting this year — will be raised to 30% by 2030. The government also plans to introduce internationally aligned recycled-content target rates for food and cosmetics containers and plastic film products made from polyethylene (PE) and polypropylene (PP).

It will support equipment replacement and shifts to smart manufacturing processes, starting with pay-as-you-throw garbage bags, which were among key response items during the Middle East conflict. Officials also said they will review steps to stabilize the market if recycled materials cost more than virgin, petroleum-based inputs.

Policies to reduce plastic products will be strengthened. The government will assess items such as cosmetics containers and plastic bags for reusability and ease of recycling, and will encourage switching to alternatives such as paper where plastic is not necessary.

Delivery containers and parcel packaging will also face tighter rules. For delivery containers, the government will encourage weight reductions by optimizing structural design while keeping overall size and shape. For parcel packaging, it will limit excessive packaging to reduce plastic use.

Packaging that is hard to recycle or that disrupts recycling of other products will face limits on market entry through industry agreements.

For major product categories such as clothing and electrical and electronic goods, the government will flesh out a “Korean-style eco-design system” to ensure recyclability is considered from the design and production stages.

The waste charge system will also be revised. Rates will be differentiated to reflect varying product lifespans, such as for disposable goods and furniture, and fee reductions for using recycled materials will be expanded.
 
The government also plans to bring plastics that have typically been incinerated into the recycling loop, building collection and recycling systems for items long considered blind spots, including clothing and disposable plastic cups.

Working with the National Police Agency, the government will collect police uniforms that were previously burned, extract recycled polyester, or use the material as filling and insulation. It plans to expand the program later to other uniforms, including military clothing.

Disposable cups, currently subject to waste charges, will be brought under the extended producer responsibility recycling system so they can be managed and recycled together with containers made of the same material.

The government will expand preprocessing facilities that open and sort pay-as-you-throw bags and increase deployment of artificial intelligence and optical sorting equipment to recover plastic waste that has been burned or buried. For waste plastic film, it will promote pyrolysis to extract recycled naphtha by building wider-area collection systems and diversifying feedstocks.

It will also accelerate a shift to reusable containers, focusing on multiuse facilities where disposable items are heavily used.

Funeral halls will switch to reusable tableware through agreements starting with facilities run by public institutions nationwide, with a phased expansion to private facilities based on implementation results.

The government will also seek to establish a culture of reusable containers at workplace cafeterias and cafes, sports stadiums, and cafes near public institutions. It plans to expand personal-cup discount programs already used by some coffee chains and to sign agreements to refrain from using mixed-material packaging.

The ministry said it plans to extend the source-reduction and circular-use approach beyond plastics to future waste resources across sectors, including used electric vehicle batteries and discarded solar panels.

Kim said the Middle East war is a crisis but also an opportunity to address “the structural vulnerability of a linear economy that depends on imported resources while mass-producing and discarding products.” He said the government will push “source reduction and circular use” quickly and forcefully to build a sustainable, plastic-free economy that is resilient to external shocks.