Plastic cups in coffee shops to be banned again

Plastic cups are stacked at a coffee shop, central Seoul, Thursday. The use of disposable products at coffee shops and restaurants, which has been allowed amid COVID-19 pandemic, will be banned again from April. Newsis

By Lee Hae-rin

Single-use plastic cups will be banned at coffee shops for sit-in customers again from April 1, as the environment authorities are gradually lifting temporary permissions to use such products during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Ministry of Environment announced the measure, Thursday, aiming to tackle the increasing volume of plastic waste and discourage use of disposable products in the food service business.

The ban on plastic cups in coffee shops, except for to-go orders, has been in place here since August 2018. However, since the breakout of the COIVD-19 pandemic in early 2020 the ministry allowed local governments to temporarily permit use of disposable products at cafes out of concerns of virus spread through regular cups.

The exceptive regulation has received criticism over its fairness, as restaurants have been obliged to use multiuse cutlery, dishes and cups.

The regulation will be further strengthened starting Nov. 24, as coffee shops and restaurants will both be restricted from using paper cups, plastic straws and plastic drink stirrers even when customers are having meals or drinks at the venues.

Convenience stores and bakeries will also be prohibited from giving out plastic bags, which are currently banned only in stores bigger than 3,000 square meters and supermarkets bigger than 165 square meters.

Disposable plastic covers for umbrellas on rainy days in large stores and plastic cheering items in stadiums will also be banned from November.

In 2020, the amount of plastic waste here increased by 19 percent compared to the year before, while vinyl waste rose by 9 percent and packaging waste including Styrofoam went up by 14 percent, the ministry said.

“Single-use disposable products are convenient to use but create a large volume of waste and environmental problems,” Hong Dong-gon, an official from the ministry's Resource Recirculation Bureau, said in a ministry press release.

“The ministry asks for cooperation from the food service industry and the general public in carrying out the revised regulation,” Hong said.