The government will implement separate collection of paper cartons in apartment complexes and other multi-unit housing starting this year. It also decided to convert single-use plastic cups into items subject to Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) and to prepare measures to impose recycling obligations on overseas direct purchase online platforms.

On the 26th, the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment released this year’s key work plan for the Resource Circulation Bureau that includes these measures.

First, to promote recycling of paper cartons, the ministry will implement separate collection for multi-unit housing. In the first half of the year, it will provide dedicated collection boxes for paper cartons and produce and distribute dedicated collection bags. Although paper cartons are a recyclable resource made from premium pulp, separate collection has not been properly carried out. As of 2023, the paper carton recycling rate stands at 19%, the lowest among all recyclable materials.

Once separate collection is mandated, consumers must rinse and dry used paper cartons and place them in dedicated collection boxes. Starting with multi-unit housing, the ministry plans to settle the system and then expand it in phases, beginning with regions where collection·sorting systems are in place.

Single-use plastic cups, which are currently subject to a waste charge, will be newly included in the EPR program in light of changes in recycling conditions such as material standardization. EPR is a system that imposes an obligation on manufacturers and importers to retrieve and recycle a portion of products placed on the market. Accordingly, companies that produce·import·sell cups, such as food and beverage franchises, must collect and recycle a set quantity of cups.

In preparation for the expansion of EPR coverage for electrical·electronic products that takes effect this year, the number of collection boxes for waste home appliances·batteries will be increased to more than double the 2025 level (20,000 units). With the expansion of EPR for electrical·electronic products, from this year all producers of electrical·electronic products, including clothes dryers and portable fans, must collect and recycle a set quantity of end-of-life products.

The government will also push measures to impose recycling obligations on overseas direct purchase online platforms. Packaging and products flowing in through overseas direct purchases are a major cause of the increase in domestic waste plastic, but the current EPR system applies only to domestic manufacturers·importers. As a result, such platforms have long been criticized as being in a regulatory blind spot. The ministry plans to develop remedies suited to domestic conditions to close these blind spots, based on a fact-finding survey that reviews the status of systems by country.