Suwon City, Ministry of Environment, and Distribution/Logistics Companies Join Hands to Reduce Single-Use Delivery Boxes

[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Seo Dong-young] Suwon City, the Ministry of Environment, and distribution and logistics companies have joined forces to reduce single-use delivery boxes.

Suwon City and the Ministry of Environment, along with Lotte Mart, NS Home Shopping, Oasis Market, and Ondag (a delivery company), signed a "Memorandum of Understanding for Pilot Application of Reusable Packaging Materials" at City Hall on the 17th and agreed to actively cooperate in reducing transportation packaging materials.

According to the agreement, distribution and logistics companies will ▲use reusable packaging materials instead of single-use packaging materials when shipping parcels ▲participate in pilot projects to expand the use of reusable packaging materials and establish a logistics system that uses reusable transportation packaging materials ▲refrain from additional packaging during the sales process of finished products ▲actively work to prevent excessive packaging.

The city will provide administrative and institutional support for the successful establishment of the pilot project, including selecting target project areas and consulting with residents, and will continuously monitor the project. The government will support the packaging reduction activities of distribution and logistics companies participating in the agreement.

The four distribution and logistics companies participating in the agreement will use reusable transportation packaging materials when shipping goods to the Gwonseon-gu area of Suwon from mid-this month.

When residents in the pilot application area order products from the online malls of companies participating in this agreement, goods are delivered in reusable packaging materials. When consumers place empty packaging outside their doors, the companies collect, clean, and reuse them.

Using reusable packaging materials can dramatically reduce paper and styrofoam boxes, and ice packs used in packaging fresh food can also be recovered.

If the single-use packaging materials such as delivery boxes from the three distribution companies are replaced with reusable packaging materials, it is expected that packaging waste of 66 tons per year (paper boxes 53 tons, styrofoam 13 tons) can be reduced across the entire Gwonseon-gu area.

The agreement ceremony was attended by Suwon Mayor Yeom Tae-young, Minister of Environment Cho Myung-rae, Jeong Jae-woo (Head of Lotte Mart Digital Division), Cho Hang-mok (CEO of NS Home Shopping), Ahn Jun-hyung (Vice President of Oasis), and Yun Hyung-seok (CEO of Ondag).

Minister of Environment Cho Myung-rae expressed expectations, saying "We cannot solve the waste problem if we do not reduce single-use packaging materials," and "I hope that the reusable logistics system will expand across the industry."

Mayor Yeom Tae-young said, "Packaging waste has increased tremendously as parcel delivery usage has grown following the COVID-19 pandemic," adding "If we use reusable packaging materials, we can significantly reduce paper and styrofoam boxes."

He continued, "Reducing single-use products means less garbage in households, reduced waste management budgets for our city, and ultimately saving the global environment," and expressed hope that "reusable packaging materials will become a model case of the 'Green New Deal.'"

Meanwhile, Mayor Yeom Tae-young proposed to Minister Cho after the agreement ceremony to legalize "expansion measures for ice pack reuse."

Mayor Yeom Tae-young proposed ▲mandating standard specifications (large and small) for ice packs to enable reuse through legislation ▲establishing regulations to prevent company names from being displayed on the surface of packaging materials for ice pack communalization ▲strengthening ice pack packaging material durability and mandating the use of eco-friendly materials.