The Environment Ministry announced Tuesday a range of measures aimed at reducing plastic waste and boosting the recycling rate, following last month‘s waste management crisis. 

The measures include cutting down on single-use packaging and plastic waste in fast food and quick service restaurants, and grocery chains by 35 percent by 2022, while gradually changing sales and distribution of all colored plastic bottles for beverages to transparent plastic by 2020.

With online shopping on the rise, the ministry will also implement measures to ban redundant packaging for delivery.

Separately, the ministry will develop a set of garbage disposal guidelines to help residents understand what to put in garbage bins and what not to. 

The announcement came less than a month after local recyclables collection companies refused to collect solid waste, including low-grade plastics and unsorted paper, as China no longer imports them.

Their prices have dropped significantly due to the neighboring country’s ban that came into effect in January, which reduced the profitability of collecting recyclables.

Environment Minister Kim Eun-kyung said on Tuesday that the disposal of plastic trash is a “worldwide problem” and that "it’s important to reduce the amount of disposable trash, while increasing the recycling the rate."

By Bak Se-hwan (sh@heraldcorp.com)