South Korea now controls packaging space ratio and packaging layers of products delivered to consumers

On April 30, 2024, the Ministry of Environment (MOE) of South Korea started implementing partially revised regulation titled “Regulation on Standards for Product Packaging Materials and Packaging Methods,” which was promulgated on April 29, 2022. The revision was made considering the situation of the country, in which increased amounts of packaging materials are used and then wasted, due to over-packaging of parcels. This situation is a consequence of the expansion of e-commerce and further aggravated by increased use of single-use packaging materials. The revision expands the scope of the existing packaging regulation to include product packaging intended for products delivered to consumers, which was not previously covered by the regulation. Under the revised regulation, disposable packaging materials used for transportation of products to consumers shall have the ratio of packaging space of 50 percent or less and single layer packaging. If the total length, width, and height of a single package is 50 centimeters or less, the standard regarding the packaging space ratio shall not be applied.