KB News Desk
Korea set to make separate disposal of milk cartons mandatory, raising questions over effectiveness
With the government mandating the separate disposal of paper beverage cartons from October, critics wonder whether the new policy will effectively raise the recycling rate or make recycling more tedious for residents.
On Oct. 1, South Korea began voluntary implementation of the new recycling policy that requires separating paper beverage cartons from other recyclable paper.
The policy will be mandatory from Jan. 1, 2027, at apartment complexes with 300 or more households, covering about 144,000 buildings, according to the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment on Wednesday.
Once local government ordinances are revised, violators could face fines of up to 300,000 won ($224) under the Waste Control Act.
Milk cartons and aseptic cartons — often used for juice, soju and soy milk — should be washed, flattened and placed in separate collection bins. Simply separating them from other paper at the same collection point, as previously allowed, will no longer be permitted.
Korea has touted its relatively high waste-collection rate for recyclables compared with other advanced countries. But only a small portion of the waste collected has been turned into new products.
The Environment Ministry estimates that the collection and recycling rate for paper beverage cartons fell to 13 percent in 2023, down from 19.9 percent in 2019.
“We will do our best to establish the institutional foundation and provide policy support, including a separate collection system for paper cartons, so that the paper carton recycling system can become firmly established in the field,” Environment Minister Kim Sung-whan said on Sep. 21.
That day, the ministry signed a partnership with dairy companies, paper manufacturers and recyclers to facilitate the recycling of paper beverage cartons.
Earlier efforts struggled to take hold
However, these efforts face questions over their effectiveness.
A similar measure for separate disposal of transparent plastic beverage bottles took effect in December 2020 and has struggled to take hold. Despite a fine of 300,000 won for violators, the new method has had limited effects, since there are only a few ways to identify those who mix bottles with other plastics,
Concerns have been raised that the burden of enforcing the rules ultimately falls on apartment security guards. Some waste collection companies have also been reported to mix different types of plastics again after collecting them from residential areas.
“The transparent PET bottle separation system has not yet become established in the field, and we are reviewing the situation in which bottles that people have gone to the trouble of separating are collected or processed together,” an Environment Ministry official said last December. “There is even talk of introducing a deposit system for PET bottles.”
Against this backdrop, locals worry that separating paper beverage cartons could face similar problems.
“Even with paper itself, the boundary is unclear for many people in our apartment,” said Cho, a resident in her 30s in Yongin, Gyeonggi Province, told The Korea Herald. “Some people believe that not only chicken boxes with seasoning on them, but even wooden chopsticks can be recycled with paper because they are made of wood.”
Cho said flattening milk cartons before disposal has long been official guidance, raising questions about how the government can enforce a rule that has not been followed until now.
The details matter
Along with criticism over whether it is appropriate to place responsibility for following complicated sorting rules on individuals, experts say detailed policy design is important to ensure compliance.
“It is important to have consistent collection infrastructure and publicity. There have been efforts to collect milk cartons separately, but they have not worked well because rewards have been provided and then discontinued,” said Jang Yong-chul, a professor of environmental engineering at Chungnam National University.
An official from the Korea Housing Managers Association also said the government and local governments should dispatch on-site guidance staff to apartment complexes or proactively provide separate collection spaces and equipment to reduce confusion in the field.
At the same time, experts called for sorting infrastructure to handle the waste after residents separate it. Jang also emphasized the importance of determining how much of the collected material can actually be considered recyclable and to reflect that in specific policy measures.
“Not every local government will be able to establish everything at the same time in a short period, but it would be good to additionally establish regional recycling infrastructure responsible for handling the materials,” Jang added.
