As South Korea hosts INC-5 talks on plastic waste, critics say its 73% recycling claim hides flaws, with actual rates near 27%. Rising plastic use and financial challenges reveal limits of recycling-focused strategies.
Despite international recognition for its recycling efforts, South Korea’s challenges with plastic waste are coming into sharper focus as it prepares to host the INC-5 talks in Busan next week. The discussions will center on a potential global agreement to address plastic pollution, with contentious debates expected over whether the treaty should include limits on plastic production.
Countries like Saudi Arabia and China, major plastic and petrochemical producers, oppose such restrictions, advocating instead for improved waste management practices.
South Korea reports recycling 73% of its plastic waste, compared to the United States’ 5-6%, earning it praise as one of the top recycling nations. The MIT Technology Review even ranked South Korea as the only Asian country in the top 10 of its 2022 Green Future Index.
However, critics argue these statistics are misleading. Seo Hee-won of the Climate Change Center says the 73% figure reflects plastic that reaches screening facilities, without clarity on how much is actually recycled versus incinerated or sent to landfills. Greenpeace estimates the true recycling rate is closer to 27%.
The country’s plastic waste problem has grown significantly, with annual generation rising from 9.6 million tonnes in 2019 to 12.6 million tonnes in 2022—a 31% increase driven by the pandemic-related surge in online shopping and packaging.
Financial challenges have further hindered recycling. At a closed recycling facility in Asan, approximately 19,000 tonnes of untreated plastic waste remain piled up, emitting foul odors. Local officials attribute the issue to the facility owner’s financial difficulties, estimating cleanup costs between $1.43 million and $2.14 million—a low priority due to the lack of funding.
South Korea’s situation highlights the complexities and limitations of recycling-focused approaches, raising questions about the need for more aggressive measures to curb plastic production globally.
A supertanker which was cruising through the Strait of Hormuz was targetted by an unknown projectile off t...
The defence ministers of Azerbaijan, Türkiye and Georgia met in Shusha for their 13th trilateral meeting, with talks focused on regional secur...
Around 400 schools across France remained closed on Friday as protests over teacher shortages and deteriorating buildings escalated into violence, ...
Yemen's air force carried out 20 strikes on Houthi targets earlier on Friday, Brigadier General Majid Abdullah Al-Nuzaili, Spokesman for the Yemeni Armed Forces, said. Meanwhile, the Iran-backed Houthis denied targeting a power plant supplying energy to a mosque in Medina, Saudi Arabia.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Israel may participate in the investigation into a serious incident aboard a flydubai flight bound for Tel Aviv, while investigators examine the motive of the co-pilot involved.
Swiss glaciers lost more than 5 per cent of their ice in 2026, making it one of their worst years on record as a dry winter and repeated heatwaves accelerated melting across the Alps.
Passengers from a flydubai flight that was diverted to Saudi Arabia after an alleged attempt to crash the aircraft have arrived safely in Israel.
Russia has warned NATO that it would be prepared to use nuclear weapons if the Western alliance attempted to isolate Kaliningrad, a Russian exclave on the Baltic Sea, according to a diplomatic document seen by Reuters.
Türkiye’s COP31 presidency has unveiled an action agenda designed to turn climate commitments into concrete projects and measurable results, focusing on clean energy, waste reduction, resilient cities and industrial decarbonisation.
Greenland and Antarctica have shed a combined 11.3 trillion tonnes of ice since 1979, according to the most comprehensive satellite study of the planet's ice sheets to date, with researchers warning the pace of loss has accelerated sharply in recent decades.
The European Union will continue allowing large-scale plastic waste exports to Türkiye despite concerns over recycling rates, environmental damage and the risk of illegal waste trafficking.
Hundreds of thousands of deep-diving turtles, known as olive ridley sea turtles, have arrived on Mexico’s southern coast for one of nature’s most striking nesting events. But conservation officials warn that climate change is making it increasingly difficult for their eggs to hatch.
August 2026 tied as the hottest month ever recorded globally, pushing average temperatures above the critical 1.5°C threshold as extreme weather swept across several regions, the EU’s Copernicus Climate Change Service said.
You can download the AnewZ application from Play Store and the App Store.
What is your opinion on this topic?
Leave the first comment