Gov't to launch money-back policy for returned used cups

Single-use plastic and paper cups are stacked at a Starbucks shop in Seoul, April 6. Newsis

By Ko Dong-hwan

To reduce single-use waste and save resources in the country's efforts to fight the climate crisis, the government is launching an app to reward people for returning single-use cups after they're done with them.

Using a new smartphone app, the new initiative by the environment ministry allows patrons at coffee shops across the country to return used coffee cups in exchange for money. With each cup returned, the app pays patrons back a "resource circulation deposit" worth 300 won (24 cents). The app is available at Google Play Store and Apple's App Store.

The test service came ahead of the ministry's introduction of the service as a new environmental policy starting on June 10. The policy is a result of a revision last June to the country's Resources Recycling Act.

The test service begins with four coffee shops in Sejong on May 6 and will expand to more stores interested in providing the service. The test service will continue until June 9.

The participating stores first provide cups with a barcode. Users with a cup to return can scan the cup's barcode at a kiosk in the store and then scan another barcode shown in their apps to identify themselves. Then the app wires the deposit directly to their bank accounts. If users wish to get paid back in cash, they can request it from an employee at the store.

The app, developed by the Resources Recycling Division under the ministry's Resources Circulation Bureau, also shows how many deposits the user has collected and where the closest location to return used cups is based on the user's current location.

The app also allows users to help themselves instead of requiring them to seek out an employee at the store to get paid.

"The new app will minimize the hassle for both consumers seeking the monetary reward and store employees having to receive the returned cups," said Hong Dong-gon, the chief of the Resources Circulation Bureau.

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