RETURN TO PAPER(En)

It is ‘ Environment Day ’ on June 5 th  that is designated by the United Nations at the Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment. During its first conference in 1972, the global society decided to work together to preserve the environment and established World Environment Day.   As climate change and the impacts have been getting serious due to environmental pollution, the world has been attempting various schemes to cooperate for the environment. One of them is called a carbon tax. The tax is a few imposed on the burning of carbon-based fuels and it is now implemented in 50 different countries in the world including Swiss and Sweden. Korea also announced a ‘ 2050 Net-zero ’ pledge and is actively discussing to enact related legislation.   However, many Korean companies are hugely dependent on the export of products emitting a great deal of carbon such as cars, steels, and oil chemicals. In addition to the increased cost of CER (Certificated Emissions Reducti...

Jinju, a well-known city for abundant cultural assets and good education, was assigned as an innovative city by the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, and Transport in Korea and became even more vigorous with public institutions such as Korea Land and Housing Corporation, Korea SMEs and Startups Agency, Korea Testing Laboratory, and many others settled in the region. KICET, Korea Institute of Ceramic Engineering and Technology, is also one of them, located in Nam River in the city. As one of the government-funded research institutes, KICET was established for research development, test analysis, education of human resource of cutting-edge ceramic technology and covers a diverse range of fields including life, environment, energy, bio, medical, contributing to the improvement on the competitiveness of the ceramic industry. On May 3rd, there was a ‘ Training Business for Science and Engineering Expertise ’ held at an auditorium of KICET and rePAPER ’ s CEO, Yoon Cheol, gave a lectu...

It must be a great concern for everyone to choose what to eat during in-between seasons like these days not to mention fine dust and Covid19 problems. We are very particular when it comes to food. We want to check if it does not contain any carcinogen, heavy metals, or any influence on hormones. Yet, have you considered the safety of a container to hold the food? How Does Each Country Administrate FCMs? FCMs, Food Contact Materials, are a word to refer to any materials or articles that are supposed to be in contact with food. All types of packaging and cutlery that are made of plastic, rubber, paper, and metals fall into the category. Countries including the U.S. and Japan as well as India and China have implemented Positive List System to manage FCMs. The List indicates materials that are allowed to use in food packaging and any related equipment that are manufactured, imported or distributed inland. They strictly forbid the use of other materials that are not on the list. E...

The use of disposables has been rapidly increased since COVID19 outbreak. Some consumers purchase ‘ environmentally friendly ’ products described as biodegradable or compostable in the belief that they are making a better choice for the environment. But, does our decision really bring the result as we wish and expect? According to Jason Locklin, the director of New Materials Institute of the University of Georgia, expressions like ‘ biodegradable ’ or ‘ compostable ’ confuse not only customers but also experts in the fields, for such products may only be degraded under certain conditions and mess up with recycling stream. Let ’ s take a few examples that are marketed as biodegradable. Can we really trust these products that are supposed to relieve customer ’ s guilt on the use of disposables?   1 st  player It is PLA(Poly Lactic Acid). PLA is made from ingredients mostly extracted from corn starch that it is one of the most well-known environmentally-friendly resi...

  At the 120 th  meeting of government current affairs, the Ministry of Environment announced plastic-free measures to solve the increasing plastic municipal waste and the marine pollution issues. Let ’ s find out more details!   Critical increase of plastic waste The outbreak of COVID19 pandemic has changed our lifestyle since last year. Telecommuting, online lessons, and the ban on gatherings brought high demands on food and parcel delivery and this naturally caused a sharp increase of household waste. The production rate of plastic waste in the first half of 2020 is 8.48 million tons which is 15.6% higher than last year. On the other hand, the recycling rate has continuously decreased from 57.9% in 2015 to 40.6% in 2019. Korean Government has introduced various policies in order to reduce the use of plastic, but the practical effect is still questionable. The Ministry of Environment is now presenting a more fundamental policy to decrease the plastic waste by 20% ...