With the increasing popularity of takeaway coffee, South Koreans’ use of disposable cups hit a record high last year, while the return rate has continuously decreased, a lawmaker said, Sunday.
Last year, Koreans used 672.4 million disposable cups, up from 432.4 million in 2009, according to Rep. Ha Tae-kyung from the Saenuri Party.
The actual number of throwaway cups may be larger, as the data was collected from 12 coffeehouses and five fast food chains.
People are less likely to return them to the drink shops for recycling after drinking from them: the rate of return for recycling was 78.3 percent in 2012, 73.6 percent in 2013, 71.5 percent in 2014, and 68.9 percent last year.
The rate has been decreasing since the government abolished the 100 won ($ 0.1) deposit system for each disposable cup in 2008, Ha said.
“Considering that Koreans’ coffee consumption has been rising, the government, businesses and consumers all should come up with measures to reduce the use of disposable cups and encourage recycling,” he said.
According to last year’s data from the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs, Koreans had coffee 12.3 times a week, while they had cabbage kimchi 11.8 times a week and rice, seven times.
Choi Ha-young
