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Korea to 'review' plastic straw ban as U.S. turns its back on paper

Published: 18 Feb. 2025, 18:36 Updated: 18 Feb. 2025, 20:18

KIM JU-YEON
[email protected]

A plastic straw is provided at a cafe in Seoul in January 2022. [YONHAP]

The Korean government will perform an environmental assessment of paper straws, potentially reversing a plastic straw ban that it has been postponing since its introduction in 2021.

The Ministry of Environment on Thursday said it will conduct a life cycle assessment (LCA) on single-use plastic and paper straws. An LCA assesses the environmental impact of a product along its entire life cycle, including manufacturing, consumption and disposal.

The announcement follows U.S. President Donald Trump’s executive order, signed on Feb. 10, that reversed the Joe Biden administration's initiative to eliminate single-use plastics, like straws, in federal buildings. Private firms, in addition to public U.S. entities, have also been turning their backs on paper straws.

The Environment Ministry on Friday said the review had been in the works since last year and was “unrelated to the new U.S. government’s change in policy” in response to Maeil Business Newspaper and other Korean media outlets that had characterized its actions as an “inconsistent policy failure.”

While paper straws have long been promoted as a “green” alternative to plastic ones, researchers have not reached a consensus. Recent studies, including one conducted in 2020 by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, have suggested that paper straws have a larger carbon footprint than their plastic alternatives.

The ministry said it would take other factors into account when determining regulations on plastic straws such as other countries’ respective policies, paper straw usage at government-partnered franchises and consumer feedback. It said that the results of the review will direct future policy.

Korea introduced its plastic straw ban in 2021. It was initially set to take effect in 2022, but the government extended the grace period for its implementation in 2022, and again in 2023, for an indefinite period without repealing it. Paper straw firms, which had expected increased demand for their products after the policy took effect, protested the state’s back-and-forth stance.

Starbucks famously banned all plastic straws from 2020, while Starbucks Korea phased them out in 2018. Starbucks Japan replaced paper straws with bioplastic straws that are plant-based and biodegradable at limited stores in December last year; those are set to roll out across all locations in March.

“We are monitoring the situation, [especially] a potential change in the government’s policies, but do not have concrete plans to change straws,” a Starbucks Korea spokesperson told the Korea JoongAng Daily.

While the coffee chain pays royalties to Starbucks’ Seattle headquarters, regional chains have agency over their operations, meaning the Korean branches do not necessarily have to follow the U.S. firm’s suit, the spokesperson said. Retailer Emart has owned a majority stake in Starbucks Korea since 2022.

BY KIM JU-YEON [[email protected]]