South Korea's ministry of environment has announced new rules on the use of recycled plastics which will come into effect on 1 January 2026.
The ministry on 16 September announced that amendments to the "Act on the Promotion of Saving and Recycling of Resources", which designates the amount of recycled plastics to be used by various entities, have been passed at a state council meeting and will come into effect on 1 January 2026.
Bottled water and non-alcoholic beverage enterprises must blend recycled components into transparent (colourless) polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles. The first batch of enterprises subjected to the mandate will be those with a PET consumption exceeding 5,000 t/yr, and their proportion of recycled PET (rPET) content should be no less than 10pc. By 2030, the threshold will be extended to enterprises with a PET consumption of more than 1,000 t/yr, and mandatory rPET content will be raised to 30pc.
Market participants estimate that rPET consumption in 2026 will be approximately 17,500 t/yr with the 10pc mandatory blending content.
South Korean beverage enterprises have been trying to refine package design, by making bottles label-free, using less PET to produce bottles, and using a portion of rPET in production. This industry trend of reducing impurities in design makes it easier for recyclers and enables higher-quality recycling. The implementation of mandatory recycled content will also help to boost rPET consumption for end-use applications.
