The South Korean government really wants people to get used to shopping with reusable bags:
Environment Minister Cho Myung-rae (3rd from L) poses with major retailer executives after they signed an agreement on reducing platic waste and encouraging reusable bag usage on Aug. 29, 2019. (Yonhap)
Plastic waste is a nagging headache for Asia’s fourth-largest economy. After banning plastic cups and bags, the government is now moving to ban paper boxes and packaging tapes.
Starting November, supermarkets will stop providing paper boxes and tape that shoppers can use to carry their groceries home, a move meant to encourage shoppers to use reusable shopping bags and reduce the plastic tape and string used for packing boxes, according to the environment ministry.
You can read more at the link, but the supermarkets must love the fact they can increase profits by selling the reusable bags all the while claiming they care about the environment.
So does anyone have any issues with the plastic bag ban that is about to go into affect in South Korea?:
Use of disposable plastic bags will be banned at large retailers nationwide, starting next month, as part of the government’s efforts to reduce waste and conserve the environment, the Ministry of Environment said Wednesday.
The ministry said about 2,000 hypermarkets and approximately 11,000 big supermarkets with sales floor space of 165 square meters or more will be prohibited from offering disposable plastic bags to their clients from April 1.
Department stores and large shopping malls are also subject to the revised enforcement regulation of the Act on the Promotion of Saving and Recycling of Resources, the ministry said.
Retailers that violate the ban could face fines of up to 3 million won (around $2,644).
