Activists hold a press conference calling for the implementation of the deposit-refund scheme for takeaway cups in central Seoul in front of a mountain of disposable plastic cups on June 10, 2022. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, March 1 (Korea Bizwire) — There are more microplastics found in disposable containers commonly used for food deliveries than in multi-use containers, a consumer watchdog said Tuesday.
The Korea Consumer Agency looked into 16 kinds of disposable containers currently being used in the commercial market, discovering close to 30 microplastics.
In the four kinds of multi-use containers that the agency analyzed, however, only 0.7 to 2.3 microplastics were found.
Comparing them together, the microplastics found in disposable containers were 2.9 to 4.5 times larger in quantity than in multi-use containers.
The microplastics were mostly PET (47.5 percent) and polypropylene (27.9 percent), which are commonly used to make plastic cups and containers. There was also polyethylene (10.2 percent), which is used to coat paper cups.
Moreover, the agency found plastic in all containers that was not the same kind of plastic used to make them, an indication that they were contaminated during the process of manufacturing, packaging, and distribution.
Considering the amount of coffee each South Korean adult drinks every year, each person would consume around 2,639 microplastics each year if they drank coffee from a disposable cup.
Assuming that each consumer orders food deliveries 1.9 times every week, they would be exposed to a higher amount of microplastic every year.
Ashley Song (ashley@koreabizwire.com)
