Gov't tries again to get people to return disposable cups

A bar code is attached to a disposable cup for take-out. A deposit-return system for disposable cups will begin in the city of Sejong and Jeju Island starting Friday. [JANG JIN-YOUNG]

Coffee shops and fast-food outlets in the city of Sejong and Jeju Island will start charging a refundable fee to customers for disposable cups starting Friday.

According to the Ministry of Environment, 532 stores of 51 franchises including Starbucks and McDonald's will implement a deposit-refund scheme for disposable cups from Friday, starting in Sejong and Jeju Island. The system only applies to franchised cafes, bakeries and fast food joints with 100 or more shops in Sejong and Jeju.

Under the system, customers will pay an additional 300 won (23 cents) when they order a drink in a disposable cup, which can be refunded at any store of the same franchise.

Customers must bring the cup to the cashier, who will scan its barcode and return the deposit in cash. To have it directly deposited to a bank account, customers must have a Resource Recirculation Deposit Fee application by the Container Deposit System Management Organization (Cosmo) on their phone and have an account registered.

About 30 billion disposable cups are estimated to be consumed annually in Korea.

This is not the first time a deposit-refund scheme for disposable cups is being implemented.

A similar scheme started in 2002, and Korea was the first country in the world to adopt such a system. But it was scrapped in 2008. The rate returns of disposable cups only reached 37 percent.

Since then, use of disposable cups has only increased.

The Ministry of Environment initially tried to adopt the deposit system nationwide on June 10, but the plan was postponed and the scope of the implementation was downscaled to Sejong and the southern tourist island of Jeju. The ministry has not said when it would extend it.

To bring up the return rate, the government raised the deposit fee from 50 to 100 won in the past to 300 won.

In the past, cups had to be returned to the branch where they were purchased. That has been widened to any branch of the same chain.

The environment ministry plans to install machines to accept used cups and return deposits in participating stores.

In addition, the government plans to set up 30 or more places in Sejong where customers can return cups outside the stores, such as at government complexes, City Hall, community centers and public parking lots. In Jeju, 40 or more such places will be set up, such as airport passenger terminals, ports, rental car parking lots and major tourist attractions.

The government aims to have 90 percent of disposable cups returned this time around.

BY SEO JI-EUN [seo.jieun1@joongang.co.kr]