South Korea - Sub Act on the Promotion of Saving and Recycling of Resources

​1. The Republic of Korea has amended the Act on the Promotion of Saving and Recycling of Resources as of December 24, 2018, which will enter into force on December 25, 2019.
The amended Act requires that materials and structures of packaging be graded and evaluated according to their recyclability. Once the grades are determined, they should also be marked on the labels of products, which is to promote the production of easily recyclable packaging. The grades should be labeled on each product, but they have nothing to do with sales ban.

2. The Amendment of sub-Act in August 2019, is for the enforcement procedures defined in the higher Act (Act on the Promotion of Saving and Recycling of Resources).

3. A grace period will be granted after the entry into force of the amended Act in consideration of industry's preparation period. Nine months will be granted for grading and evaluation and up to 15 months for labeling, which adds up to a total of 2 years for the entire grace period.

4. In addition, a ban will be imposed on PVC plastics and colored PET bottles, which have extremely negative impact on the recycling process. However, if such packaging does not have substitutes available on the market or are closely related to people's diet and medicines, they will be exempt from the ban. Colored PET bottles will be banned only for mineral water and drinks.

5. In principle, a year is given to manufacturers to improve their products' recyclability. In case there have been changes in manufacturing process or for similar reasons, a 3-year improvement period is given. If no improvement is made within this period, either the use of such product is banned or a fine is imposed.

Proposed date of adoption: December 2019
Proposed date of entry into force: December 25, 2019