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| A customer buys a self-test kit for COVID-19 at a convenience store in Seoul, on July 25. Yonhap |
By Kim Jae-heun
Convenience store owners are expressing discontent over the government's decision to ban the sale of plastic bags on Nov. 24, arguing the move could hurt their businesses, according to industry officials Sunday. The stores will only be able to sell paper bags or standard plastic garbage bags approved by the Ministry of Environment.
According to the ministry, selling disposable plastic bags at retail stores bigger than 33 square meters in size will not be allowed. As of 2020, there were 38,718 convenience stores bigger than the size subject to the law enforcement, which is 84 percent of overall stores in the country. Those who sell or provide plastic bags will be fined up to 3 million won ($2,086).
The biggest concern for convenience store owners are squabbles they have to go through with customers over the new regulation.
"I have been giving out free plastic bags for customers to carry their purchases until recently. But after the government decided to ban selling plastic bags starting from next month and only allow selling them before the law's enforcement, I had so many quarrels with customers asking for free bags," a convenience store owner surnamed Kim said.
In 2016, a part-time worker at a convenience store in North Gyeongsang Province was stabbed to death by a customer after requesting payment for a plastic bag.
Convenience store owners are also worried that forcing customers to purchase paper bags or standard plastic garbage bags ― which are three to 10 times more expensive than a plastic bag ― can discourage them from buying many items in stores.
"Most people who come to convenience stores buy small snacks or beer. If I stop providing plastic bags to customers, they will not make more purchase than one or two items ― leading to a decrease in sales," a local convenience store owner said. "We understand the government's purpose of enforcing such law that aims to protect the environment. However, it is not right to hand over all the resulting conflicts to store owners and impose penalties when they breach regulations. We believe the government should let customers know about the law more first and adopt it with enough time."
The environment ministry said local governments will start adopting the regulation as originally planned, but it is also considering putting in place an interim period before enforcement of the law commences.
