Public divided on banning plastic straws

An activist clad in a turtle costume urges the government to ban use of plastic straws at restaurants and coffee shops, during a press conference at Gwanghwamun Square in central Seoul, Tuesday. / Yonhap

By Kim Jae-heun

The debate on banning on single-use plastic straws to cut plastic waste is clashing with the pursuit of convenience.

As over 10 billion plastic straws are used every year in Korea, environmental groups are calling for a ban on disposable plastic products to reduce litter and other environmental consequences of plastic waste.

However, some claim such a move is premature given that an abrupt ban without proper alternatives can inconvenience consumers.

The Korean Federation for Environmental Movement held a press conference Tuesday, urging the government to ban use of plastic straws by law. It is gathering signatures both on and offline to support the plan.

“The current law does not recognize plastic straws as a disposable product thus they are not subjected to government rules on their free use at restaurants or coffee shops,” the environmental group said in its statement. “Plastic straws cause not only air pollution, but also soil contamination and harm to marine life.”

Another nonprofit organization Tong Gam is running a campaign under the title of “Straw Revolution” to weed out the disposable product from the country.

The private group also has designated the 11th of every month as a “straw day” to urge the government to regulate the use of plastic straws on that day.

The European Union has promised to ban the plastic disposable product by 2021 and India by 2022. England has revealed its complete ban on plastic straw use by 2020.

The city government of Vancouver, Canada, has already adopted a policy to control disposable straws starting this month.

The United States, France and Taiwan said they will restrict the use of plastic straws between next year and 2030 while replacing them with paper straws.

The Korean government has not revealed any concrete plans on controlling disposable straws but the Ministry of Environment said it will review an early draft for such a regulation by the end of this month.

“We are preparing a roadmap on regulating disposable products including plastic straws. I cannot talk about specific details though,” a ministry official said.

Meanwhile, critics argue that a complete ban on plastic straws inconveniences citizens.

“I understand this is an important environmental issue and I agree on restricting plastic straws at coffee shops,” 31-year-old office worker Park Ji-ho said. “However, when you get a cold drink to go, it is hard to drink without a straw.”

“Starbucks has recently replaced plastic straws with paper straws but they melt and get soggy. Once, I tried to drink without a straw and spilt it on my shirt in the street. It is very inconvenient,” Park said.

There are arguments that the responsibility to control the plastic products at restaurants and coffee shops should fall to the enterprises.

A recent report showed a 72 percent reduction of plastic cups discarded by 21 restaurants and cafes here a year after they promised to voluntarily provide drinks in a glass or mug.

However, civic groups said it is a global trend banning plastic straws, and leaving people to voluntarily control their use of disposable products will not bring effective results.