This Aug. 25, 2020, photo shows food wrapped in plastic containers and bags for delivery at a restaurant in Seoul. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Nov. 18 (Korea Bizwire) — A study conducted by an environmental organization revealed that 78 percent of plastic waste generated in Korean households is used for food packaging.
Greenpeace Korea released its 2021 Plastic Survey on Wednesday, based on data from 841 households (2,671 people) across South Korea.
Participants made records of the manufacturer, product type, material and quantity of the plastic waste generated in their household between Aug. 23 and 29.
The results showed that 78.1 percent of all plastic waste was used to wrap food, an increase of 7 percentage points since last year’s survey.
Food packaging was followed by personal hygiene products (14.6 percent), more than half of which (53.8 percent) were disposable facial masks.
“It is an exclusive pattern caused by the pandemic,” Greenpeace said.
Lotte Chilsung Beverage Co., CJ Cheiljedang Corp. and Nongshim Co. were the top three manufacturers of plastic waste, each generating more than 2,000 items of plastic waste and accounting for 9 percent of all plastic waste reported.
Ashley Song (ashley@koreabizwire.com)
