South Korea's Zero-Plastic Ambitions Collide With Industry Interests and Everyday Habits

A global promise meets resistance at home

More than 3,300 delegates from 170 nations gathered in Busan in the summer of 2025 with a difficult task: finish a United Nations treaty to end plastic pollution. The negotiations ended without an agreement, leaving South Korea, the host, facing a question that also runs through its domestic policies: how far is it prepared to go to reduce dependence on plastics?

South Korea has presented itself internationally as a climate leader, promising to phase out plastics and tackle pollution. Its campaigns to reduce disposable products and its ambition to end plastic pollution by 2040 suggest a country seeking a leading role. Its cautious approach to binding international rules and repeated retreats on domestic restrictions tell a more complicated story.

The country is both a heavy consumer of plastic and a major supplier of the materials used to make it. LG Chem, Lotte Chemical and Hanwha Solutions manufacture resins and plastics used in packaging, consumer goods, cars and electronics. Restrictions on production would reach well beyond takeaway cups and drinking straws, affecting large employers and export businesses.

Consumers and small businesses face their own adjustments. Cafes, restaurants, convenience stores and delivery services have built routines around disposable packaging. Efforts to change those routines have repeatedly met resistance, leaving some policies weakened or dependent on voluntary participation.

South Korea's struggle therefore connects three decisions: what its factories produce, what rules its government will support, and how easily people can replace disposable products in everyday life. The Busan talks brought those pressures together on an international stage.

Why petrochemicals shape the debate

South Korea is the world's fourth largest petrochemical producer and the largest producer of plastic waste in the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, or OECD. Its industrial strength and its waste problem are closely connected: plastics support major businesses while creating a growing burden after products are used.

LG Chem, Lotte Chemical and Hanwha Solutions are among the large conglomerates whose businesses would be directly affected by strict production limits or bans on disposable products. Policymakers are protective of these companies because of their importance to employment, exports and the wider economy. The companies also wield considerable political influence.

Jeong Su-jong, a professor in Seoul National University's Department of Environmental Management, explained why the government approaches production restrictions cautiously:

While Korea is a heavy consumer of plastics, it is also a global supplier of petrochemicals, which are among the top export earners, along with semiconductors, steel, and cars. The government is wary of imposing strict caps on plastic production not only because of domestic consumption, but also because of the industry's contribution to trade revenue.

Production limits would place a ceiling on how much plastic manufacturers could make. Restrictions on disposable products would instead target particular uses, such as cups or packaging. Both approaches could affect demand for the materials these companies sell, bringing environmental goals into direct contact with concerns about jobs and export competitiveness.

What divided the Busan negotiations?

Delegates in Busan worked through a sprawling draft treaty containing competing options and text in brackets. Those brackets marked wording that governments had not yet agreed to accept. Disagreements covered the treaty's basic reach as well as the money needed to put it into practice.

• Whether global plastic production should face binding limits.
• Whether hazardous chemicals used in plastics should be banned.
• How implementation should be financed, particularly in developing countries.
• Whether the treaty should cover the entire lifecycle of plastics or concentrate on waste management.

A lifecycle approach follows plastics from production through use and disposal. A treaty focused mainly on waste management would place greater weight on what happens after products have been used, including collection and recycling. The choice matters because it determines which parts of the plastics economy face international rules.

The High Ambition Coalition, including many African, Asian and European nations, sought binding targets to reduce production and changes to product design that would support reuse and recycling. Oil producing countries led by Saudi Arabia and Russia resisted production limits and favoured a focus on waste management and recycling.

South Korea's search for compromise

South Korea positioned itself between the competing camps, supporting compromise, softer language and voluntary commitments instead of joining the push for strict, binding production caps. That approach helped preserve relationships with environmental advocates and industry, while leaving the country's position on enforceable international rules unclear.

The Busan talks ended with a preliminary Chair's Text intended to guide further discussions, and the process was adjourned until 2025. A preliminary negotiating text gives governments a basis for continuing their work; the binding treaty they had hoped to complete remained unfinished.

Inger Andersen, executive director of the United Nations Environment Programme, acknowledged both the shared goal and the unresolved disagreements:

The world's commitment to ending plastic pollution is clear and undeniable, but persisting divergence remains in key areas. More time is needed to address these.

South Korea's diplomatic caution reflected the same pressure visible at home. The government was trying to support action on pollution while protecting industries that could face substantial changes under production restrictions. Environmental groups warned that this approach could leave the country reacting to proposals from others instead of shaping the treaty.

Activists demand cuts in production

More than 1,500 activists marched during the Busan negotiations to demand stronger action. Greenpeace also highlighted the presence of more than 220 petrochemical lobbyists, the highest number recorded at the talks so far, as evidence of the industry's influence over the process.

Greenpeace activists boarded a tanker in Busan to protest the export of toxic plastic chemicals. Their demand reached beyond better waste collection: they called on governments to resist industry lobbying and agree to a treaty that reduces the amount of plastic produced.

Greenpeace estimates that plastic production must fall by at least 75% by 2040 to avert environmental and climate disaster. That is the organisation's proposed scale of reduction, while governments remained divided over whether production limits should be part of the treaty at all.

Japan, Taiwan and South Korea have petrochemical industries that are among Asia's largest contributors to plastic pollution and the climate crisis. For South Korea, the criticism carries particular weight because its position as a major producer gives it a direct interest in the rules under discussion.

Environmental organisations want the country to use that industrial importance to help secure stronger commitments. They warn that continued caution could weaken its influence over the international negotiations and leave it as a passive participant.

Domestic rules lose momentum

South Korea has introduced measures intended to reduce disposable products, including bans on disposable cups and straws and a deposit scheme for takeaway containers. These efforts have repeatedly faltered under resistance from businesses and the public.

A deposit system adds a refundable charge to a product or container. Customers recover that money when they return it. South Korea's 2022 takeaway cup scheme was modelled on Germany's successful Pfand system, but it quickly collapsed under opposition from cafe owners and limited public support.

Regulations affecting disposables in cafes and restaurants met similar resistance. Some measures were weakened or reintroduced as voluntary programmes, leaving participation to willing businesses or local governments. That made the move away from disposable products depend more heavily on local decisions and individual cooperation.

The main events described in South Korea's plastics efforts span several years:

• 2022: A deposit scheme for takeaway cups encountered opposition from cafe owners and limited public support, and quickly collapsed.
• Summer 2025: Busan hosted more than 3,300 delegates from 170 nations for treaty negotiations that ended without agreement.
• 2025: World Environment Day in Jeju Province focused attention on plastic pollution and South Korea's response.
• 2040: South Korea aims to end plastic pollution, while Greenpeace calls for a reduction of at least 75% in plastic production by that year.

These efforts pursue related goals through different routes. Domestic rules address products people use each day, while the treaty negotiations concern responsibilities across countries and the wider plastics industry.

Making reuse fit everyday life

The Ministry of Environment says the average South Korean throws away up to 37 grams of disposable products each day, with plastic accounting for 40% of that waste. At the stated upper amount, that share works out to 14.8 grams of plastic per person per day.

Fast urban routines and a booming food delivery industry reinforce the use of disposable packaging. Replacing those products requires changes for customers as well as the businesses serving them. A reusable option must fit into those routines if people are to keep choosing it.

Heo Seung-eun of Green Korea United argued for introducing measures gradually, with time for businesses and customers to adjust:

Sudden bans on plastic and other single-use disposables can create backlash. A step-by-step approach gives time for adaptation. In the first year, target major cafe chains; in the third year, restaurant franchises; in the fifth year, convenience stores and delivery packaging. This lets people and businesses get familiar with shifting away from disposables little by little.

Possible incentives include nationwide discounts for customers who bring reusable cups. Shared cup networks could allow people to return reusable cups across several cafes, making participation less dependent on returning to the original shop.

These proposals seek to make reuse as convenient as disposable packaging. They also give businesses time to change their practices, addressing some of the resistance that has weakened earlier restrictions.

Jeju puts the 2040 goal in focus

World Environment Day 2025, celebrated in Jeju Province in the Republic of Korea, brought renewed international attention to the country's plastics policies. The event highlighted campaigns to reduce disposable plastics and South Korea's aim to end plastic pollution by 2040.

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres called for urgent changes, including greater reusability, accountability and policies to reduce disposable plastics. The emphasis was on changing how materials are used and who takes responsibility for them.

A circular economy approach, also highlighted at the event, aims to keep materials in use through reuse and recycling instead of allowing them to become waste after a short period. For South Korea, that connects the international goal with practical questions about cup returns, packaging design and industrial production.

The Jeju event also stressed collective action. National campaigns, business participation and consumer incentives all form part of the response, alongside the international negotiations over common rules.

Technology and cooperation offer practical tools

Traceability technologies, including blockchain platforms and digital waste management systems, offer ways to follow plastics through supply chains. They can help companies verify recycled content, meet regulatory requirements and give consumers greater confidence in claims about materials.

These systems depend on reliable records. Their development faces limited funding, uncertainty about regulation and gaps in data infrastructure. Stable regulations and clear data standards would give businesses a firmer basis for investing in them.

South Korea is also supporting regional work against marine plastic pollution through an International Union for Conservation of Nature project in the Pacific. The effort promotes circular economy practices and strengthens national capacity in Samoa, Vanuatu and Tonga.

That cooperation addresses connected challenges involving climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution. It extends South Korea's contribution beyond its domestic waste policies to countries working to improve their own responses to plastics entering the marine environment.

The policy approach outlined across these efforts combines mandatory reduction targets, support for industry, public incentives and technological innovation. Partnerships among producers, businesses handling products and organisations managing waste would help connect those measures. The central challenge is to turn ambitious commitments into rules and services that can withstand resistance and work in daily life.

Key Points

• Busan's treaty talks brought together more than 3,300 delegates from 170 nations but ended without an agreement.
• South Korea favoured compromise and voluntary commitments while facing pressure to support binding production limits.
• The country is the world's fourth largest petrochemical producer and the OECD's largest producer of plastic waste.
• Domestic restrictions and the 2022 takeaway cup deposit scheme encountered resistance from businesses and the public.
• Environmental advocates propose gradual implementation, reusable cup incentives and shared return networks.
• South Korea aims to end plastic pollution by 2040, with technology and Pacific regional cooperation forming part of its response.