In South Korea, plastic waste is increasing by 7% yearly, yet only 9% is recycled. About half of the plastics used are short-lived products like packaging, which has prompted the government to propose a comprehensive 'de-plasticization' strategy aimed at reducing plastic waste by 30% by 2030. However, controversies have arisen around the regulation of single-use items like cups and packaging. A Greenpeace expert has reiterated the flaws in the government’s approach, urging for more fundamental solutions rather than mere administrative shortcuts.

The proposed measures seem to prioritize administrative convenience over the essential principles of resource circulation. A significant point raised is that the government plan inverts the waste hierarchy established by current law, which prioritizes waste reduction, reuse, recycling, energy recovery, and finally, disposal. By including the use of recycled materials as a method for primary reduction, it blurs the lines of what constitutes genuine waste reduction and recycling, essentially misrepresenting recovery efforts as a primary accomplishment without addressing significant upstream reductions.

Moreover, the strategy heavily leans on 'thermal recycling'—burning plastic to generate energy—to meet its targets, which fundamentally does not contribute to resource circulation but rather equates to incineration. This reliance on easy-to-measure outcomes like recycling and incineration neglects more burdensome but critical processes like reduction and reuse, highlighting a concerning trend of focusing on statistics that inflate perceived success instead of implementing meaningful, sustainable practices for managing plastic waste.