SEOUL, June 28 (Korea Bizwire) — To commemorate June’s Environment Month, the Seoul Metropolitan Government organized Tumbler Day on Wednesday, aimed at reducing the use of single-use cups. Citizens who brought their own tumblers were rewarded with complimentary beverages.
The Tumbler Day event, arranged by the Seoul Metropolitan Assembly’s Environment and Water Resources Committee, took place near a fountain on Jungdong-gil in Jung-gu.
In today’s eco-friendly era, the utilization of tumblers has become crucial in curbing the consumption of disposable cups and promoting environmental conservation.
On average, Korean office workers use three paper cups daily, resulting in over 600 million cups consumed annually in coffee shops alone. This figure equates to the potential planting of 260,000 trees.
Moreover, the recycling of paper cups presents challenges. Disposable paper cups feature an inner coating of polyethylene, a plastic material that prevents moisture absorption. To enable recycling, this plastic layer must be separated, which necessitates a high-temperature machine. Consequently, only 14% of paper cups are recyclable, and even then, they are downcycled into the lowest-grade cardboard.
Plastics also exhibit slow degradation in nature, often taking hundreds of years or more to break down. When plastics degrade into microplastics in the ocean, they pose a significant threat to marine life and human health, similar to fine particulate matter. To mitigate environmental pollution, the adoption of long-lasting tumblers is essential.
Meanwhile, with increasing interest in ‘ESG management,’ numerous companies are striving for environmental protection and a sustainable society. One key focus area for these companies is the preservation of marine ecosystems.
Notably, the ocean covers approximately 70% of the Earth’s surface and possesses a remarkable capacity for carbon absorption, surpassing that of land. However, due to the annual dumping of over 8 million tons of plastic into the ocean, the marine ecosystem faces severe threats.
Image credit: Yonhap / photonews@koreabizwire.com
