Environment Ministry Seeking to Boost Recyclability

The environment ministry has unveiled a system assessing the recyclability of products to increase their reuse amid a plastic waste crisis.

Under the three-year initiative from 2018 to 2020, the Ministry of Environment checks deterrents to recycling products when they are discarded and admonish manufacturers to improve problems from the design phase.

The ministry said Wednesday it has put the four-stage assessment system to work.

Following its assessment of products, the ministry plans to recommend improvements to manufacturing companies.

Unless they comply with recommendations, it is set to disclose them on the internet and to the media.

On the other hand, the ministry will promote those who implement the recommendations.

The initiative comes as plastic litter has especially emerged as a major concern for Korea recently.

The decision by China to ban the import of waste in January has caused a plunge in the value of the country's waste resources.

The move led to the delayed collection of plastic waste throughout the country.

According to the plan, the ministry is keeping close tabs on 10 products preventing recycling and they include PET bottles, sterilized paper packs and auto parts.

In the first year, PET beverage bottles, PET detergent bottles, Styrofoam trays, polyvinylidene chloride (PVC) wrap and polypropylene, polyethylene and polystyrene containers will be reviewed. The five were selected as the most difficult products to reuse by recycling companies last year.

The ministry said manufacturers of those products mix them with various materials and use labels that cannot be detached easily, reducing recyclability. In...