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The plastic amount annually generated in the world is 4 million tons. Among them, it is disposable packaging that has been contributing the environmental pollution most. How do you think these post-consumer products are managed? Today, we will check how much plastic waste each country produces and how they become a serious cause of pollution.   Plastic Waste Generated in Each Country A joint research team with SEA (Sea Education Association) in the U.S. published a report on plastic waste generated in each country at <Science Advances> in October last year. It turns out the U.S. produces the most amount of plastic waste in the world. According to the report, the U.S. officially generated 34 million tons of plastic waste in 2016 and summed up to 42 million tons if including the amount that was illegally dumped or exported. With the population of a country considered, it is noted that the U.S. consumer produces 20% more plastic waste compared to India or China. Now,...

Plastic has been praised to be a ‘miracle material’ over the last 150 years. Thanks to its amazing transformation skills and functions, it has been applied to various industry fields. Yet, hundreds and thousands of reports and data insist that microplastic causes severe marine pollution and destroys the ecosystem around us and humans are facing a plastic dilemma. How well and deep do we know about plastic that we see and use everywhere? To understand what we are dealing with better, rePAPER is going to investigate the lifecycle of plastic step by step in the next 8 contents and suggest how we can work for a sustainable society. Then, shall we start with the origin of plastic?   The Origin of Plastic Plastic polymers are commonly known as synthetic resins and the name ‘plastic’ is originated from a Greek word ‘plastikos’ which means “to be easily formed or molded”. A polymer is a term to call a compound that consists of monomers, small molecules, being combined repeatedly. E...

  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% ...

Plastic is the most common and probably the most familiar material to us in modern society. Almost everything our eyes laid on is made of plastic. For every minute, 1 million drinks in a plastic bottle are sold and 10 million plastic bags are used in the world. During COVID-19, especially, the range of plastic usage became vast and its role has been more crucial than ever. The plastic products such as a facial mask, a single-use bag, and gloves protect people from the virus, and medical devices and protective equipment were helping those who are on the front lines of the batter against the virus. Birth of Plastic and Its Rapid Growth Plastic which originally means “pliable and easily shaped” has now become a word to call all kinds of polymers collectively. The very initial form of plastic was invented in 1869 by John Wesley Hyatt and it was Leo Baekeland who succeeded in making 100% synthetic resin named ‘Bakelite’, a material without any nature-derived molecules. The synthetic p...

  On June 18th, distributors and consumers were put in a great confusion. Articles were released saying the Repackaging Ban starting from the following month practically means that the Government would forbid discount promotions such as “Buy one, get one free”. The article bitterly criticized that the Korean would be the first country to ban on bundle discount in the world. Let’s keep reading to see what this controversial law exactly is and the true intention for it!   Why Ban on Repackaging? The repackaging ban law is to prohibit distributors from selling products after re-packaging. Packaging is primarily used to prevent a product from being destroyed or lost and to deliver a product’s information to a customer. As the excessive packaging has become a popular marketing form, however, the amount of waste has been soaring up. In order to resolve the waste issue, the Ministry of Environment carried forward the measures to prevent excessive packaging on January 14 th thi...