Retailers use recycled, biodegradable plastic to attract environmentally-conscious consumers

The Korea Times

The Korea Times

Business

Tue, September 26, 2023 | 06:58

Companies

Retailers use recycled, biodegradable plastic to attract eco-conscious consumers

Posted : 2023-06-05 08:36

Updated : 2023-06-05 16:55

Oriental Brewery CEO Ben Verhaert, center, holds a new PET container made of 25 percent recycled plastic at the company's headquarters in Seoul, May 31. Courtesy of OB

By Kim Jae-heun

Retailers and food & beverage makers are stepping up efforts to reduce the use of disposable packaging to appeal to a growing number of environmentally-conscious consumers, according to industry officials, Sunday.

Coca-Cola Korea Company recently introduced 1.25-liter Coca-Cola and Coca-Cola Zero products that use recycled polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles. The containers are made with 10 percent recycled plastics that have been used locally.

Oriental Brewery (OB) plans to introduce the country's first chemically recycled PET bottle for its beer products soon. It aims to replace all PET bottles with bottles made of 25 percent recycled plastic by next year. This is expected to reduce 1,000 tons of plastic used annually, according to the company.

"Reducing the use of plastic materials to fight climate change is one of OB's most important agenda currently," an OB official said. "Recycling PET bottles used for our beer products is not an easy task, but something that we must do. We are working to recycle paper materials used for our product labels as well."

A model holds a 'Sweetel Tomato' packaged in a 100 percent recycled plastic containers at a Lotte Mart store in Seoul, April 17. Courtesy of Lotte Mart

Large discount stores are also making some attempts to reduce disposable packaging, which is seen as a significant cause of environmental pollution here.

The country's largest discount store, Emart, recently replaced packages of its private brand PEACOCK's home meal replacement (HMR) products with eco-friendly packaging. Their covers are made of 50 percent recycled raw materials and containers with biodegradable bamboo and sugar cane.

"With the rapid growth of the HMR market in the country, we have developed eco-friendly packaging to prevent an increase in recycled waste," an Emart official said.

Lotte Mart already began sales of "Sweetel Tomato" products in 100 percent recycled plastic containers as of April. According to the retailer, tomatoes use the most plastic packaging among all the year-round operating products. The company plans to expand by the end of this year 100 percent recycled plastic containers to all 22 tomato products it sells.

jhkim@koreatimes.co.kr