Lotte Chilsung, JDC, Coca-Cola hit for generating most single-use plastic waste

 

Lotte Chilsung, Jeju Special Self-Governing Province Development Corp. (JDC) and Coca-Cola generate the most single-use plastic waste among the country’s food and beverage makers, according to Greenpeace Korea, Wednesday.

The environmental group released the findings after surveying over 2,000 participants who kept track of all the single-use plastic waste they discarded for a week last July and logged the results in a smartphone app. The group then categorized the results according to manufacturer, function and material.

Out of a total of 86,055 pieces of plastic waste reported by the participants, 78.3 percent came from food packaging. Among them, waste from drinking water and beverage bottles accounted for the most at 37.6 percent, followed by waste from snacks and takeout meal packaging. Lotte Chilsung was responsible for the highest portion of the figure with 3,864 pieces of waste, nearly 12 percent of the total volume of trash. Greenpeace Korea said the company has been the top producer of single-use plastic waste since 2021.