Responding to the UN Plastic Convention through Public-Private Cooperation
October 18, 2023
Contribute to ending plastic pollution and promote the establishment
of a feasible agreement
Actively communicate and respond with domestic experts and industry
The Ministry of Environment (Minister Han Wha-jin) announced that the ‘Direction for Response to the UN International Convention on Plastic Pollution’ will be discussed at the 30th Ministerial Meeting on Government Issues chaired by the Prime Minister on October 19, 2023.
This discussion on response directions was organized as the establishment of an international agreement to respond to the escalating global plastic waste pollution, decided at the 5th UN Environment General Assembly held in Nairobi, Kenya in last March, and the agreement is scheduled to be draft*ed by the second half of next year.
*At the UN Environment General Assembly, about 170 UN member countries agreed to the draft agreement and are discussions are ongoing through the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee for a total of five times starting in November 2022, with the goal of drafting the agreement in the second half of 2024.
Accordingly, the government plans to discuss the ‘Direction for Response to the UN Plastic Convention’ so that the domestic industry can smoothly respond to international regulations as it plays the role of a pivotal country leading the international environmental order and being the world's fourth-largest petrochemical producer* in terms of annual production volume.
*2021 World Petrochemical Industry Production Information (Source: Korea Petrochemical Industry Association, based on ethylene production capacity): 1st place USA (40.5 million tons), 2nd place China (39.9 million tons), 3rd place Saudi Arabia (17.8 million tons), 4th place Republic of Korea ( 12.7 million tons)
The main contents of this direction for response are based on public-private joint effort and consist of △contributing to the enactment and implementation of international agreements, △enhancing capabilities to agreement response, and △ establishing a domestic implementation base.
First, the government plans to contribute to the establishment and implementation of international agreements based on the basic principle of ‘establishing a feasible agreement to end plastic pollution’. To this end, cooperation with countries in similar positions to Korean government will be strengthened, and technology transfers and policy assessments (consulting) will be provided to developing countries, supporting implementation of the agreement, and securing overseas export markets based on this.
Second, an intergovernmental cooperation system will be established, and a dedicated agreement response team will operate within the Ministry of Environment to prepare a specialized and regular negotiation response system. In addition, plans are to share agreement trends and continuously communicate through the operation of expert discussion forums and industry consultations.
Lastly, a domestic implementation base for the obligations of the agreements will be established. To this end, plans are to advance the plastic management systems by expanding the use of recycled raw materials, strengthening product circulation design, and expanding recycling. In addition, plans include enhancing industry response capabilities through expanded investment in small and medium-sized enterprises and venture companies with excellent resource circulation and technology development support.
Lim Sang-jun, Vice Minister of Environment, stated, "We will contribute to the international community's efforts to prevent plastic pollution and actively participate in the negotiations so that an agreement that suits the domestic situation can be enacted. Further, we will also create an implementation basis so that the domestic industry can sufficiently respond to the agreement."
[APPENDIX]
Korean Government’s Key response directions of the UN Plastics Convention
1. Contribution to the establishment and implementation of international agreements
A. (Basic principle) Support the establishment of new mandatory provisions across the entire cycle, but promote the imposition of obligations that are reasonable and can be implemented by the parties to the agreement, taking into account each country’s circumstances.
i. Supporting the establishment of new plastic life-cycle management provisions, such as strengthening recycling from manufacturing and production, regulating disposable plastic packaging, expanding recycling, and managing marine plastics.
ii. Setting the targets for reducing the production of new plastics that may have an impact on the domestic industry and taking a cautious approach to establish new uniform regulatory provisions for specific substances such as PVC.
B. (Direction of negotiations) Strengthening bilateral and multilateral cooperation with countries with similar positions(by 2024)
i. Continuously reviewing key statements and written opinions by country and analyzing the direction of negotiations in major countries.
C. (Support for developing countries) Supporting the implementation of the Convention through consulting on circular economy technology transfer policies to developing countries in cooperation with domestic companies and securing overseas export markets.(since 2024)
2. Improving the capacity to respond to Convention
A. (Ministry cooperation and agreement response) Establishing an efficient strategy by building a government-wide cooperation system based on role division by ministry and operating a dedicated response team.(by 2024)
*(Ministry of Environment) Domestic implementation of the agreement throughout the entire cycle, (Ministry of Foreign Affairs) Overall management of INC negotiations, and cooperation between countries (Ministry of Industry) Support for petrochemical industry response (Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries) Reduction of marine microplastics
B. (Industrial communication) Operating an industry consultative body every quarter to share agreement trends and develop joint countermeasures.
3. Establishment of domestic implementation fundamentals
A. (Strengthening management) Strengthening full-cycle plastic management in connection with convention obligations
i. (Production) [CONVENTION ISSUES] Reduction in new plastic production → [Domestic response policy] Expand the target for use of recycled raw materials to that of an international level and establish a system to indicate the percentage of recycled material use on products
ii. (Design) [CONVENTION ISSUES] Strengthening product circulation → [Domestic response policy] Supplementing related systems to improve recyclability from the production and packaging design stage
iii. (Consumption) [CONVENTION ISSUES] Restrictions on banning the use of hazardous and unnecessary plastics → [Domestic response policy] Reducing the plastic use with risk management by supporting the development of alternative materials, expanding the supply of reusable containers and improving excessive packaging
iv. (Disposal) [CONVENTION ISSUES] Expansion of plastic recycling → [Domestic response policy] Expansion of air pyrolysis facilities (10 locations, by 2026), automation and modernization of sorting facilities (public sorting facility modernization rate: 10% in 2021 → 63% in 2026), implementation of a security deposit system for abandoned, lost or otherwise discarded fishing gear (since 2024) to improve recovery and recycling rates of fishing gear waste.
B. (Supporting industries) Expanding investment in excellent small and medium-sized venture companies in the field of resource circulation, revitalizing the circular economy through R&D support, and strengthening the ability to implement industry agreements
i. Utilize the public-private joint “The Future Environmental Industry Investment Fund” (mobilizing more than KRW 318.9 billion in 2023) to revitalize investment and promote growth in promising small and medium-sized venture companies
ii. Promote R&D on plastic circular economy transition and waste plastic industry raw materials
iii. Establish green circular research platform “POST-Plastic Resource Circulation Cluster” (by 2024, Busan, KRW 46.3 billion) to develop technology, support green circular technology demonstration, and establish education-promotion infrastructure
※ This Press Release is translated by Korean Carbon Finance Association