Korea is on its way to become more eco-friendly

December 11, 2022 Jenalinova Diyara, Rakhmanova Karina

SEOUL - The ESG movement has become a trend in South Korea, as the government, entertainment, and start-ups are on the way to its implementation.

Sustainable innovations following ESG movements, Design Exhibition 2022.

Latest trends in the ESG movement.

As ESG (environmental, social, and corporate governance) movement becomes a trending topic globally, the Korean government could not stay aside but approach more eco-friendly policies regarding local companies. Since ESG management suffered during the Covid-19 outbreak, which affected the industries, its committee started to put effort into contributing to the proper environmental sustainability conduction.

Plastic bag ban at the convenience store.

Following the government measurements, starting Nov. 24 use of plastic bags is banned at convenience stores, and it was said that paper bags or standard plastic garbage bags approved by the Ministry of Environment will be used from now on. Although the policy went into action, convenience store owners are experiencing uncertainty in those implementations. One of the 7-Eleven store’s owners is no exception: “They kept saying that you should do that, or you can’t do that, nor that. Since the policy has not yet been finally approved, in case of violations, a fine is not immediately charged.”

Man is using the backpack for his purchase at the convenience store.

Later he added: “The situation with that policy will become even more complicated next year too because there are so many convenience stores, and many owners are against it. However, due to the current situation with global warming, I still believe that even if there’s a burden for the store owners, having a social responsibility it’s better to follow this movement.”

“Our goal is to make Seoul a sustainable city,” said Park Jeong-eum, one of the activists of Seoul KFEM, which is a part of the Korean Federation of Environmental Movements, the largest non-governmental environmental organization in South Korea. It seems that S.Korea is actively working on a way to expand eco-friendly circulation measurements. However, KFEM thinks that S.Korea needs to go beyond the voluntary activities of companies and make them participate in the flow more.

KFEM office in Seoul, Jongno district.

KFEM representatives also pointed out the situation with CD albums. They mentioned that album sales are growing exponentially, with nearly 60 million sales in 2021 with an upward trend every year, increasing concerns about the issue. However, starting from 2022, there are visible changes in the industry, as many entertainment companies like HYBE, SM, etc, are currently on their way to becoming more eco-friendly. Entertainment following the ESG movement not only started to manufacture their artists' merch from environmentally friendly materials, such as biodegradable paper, etc. but also to produce digital CDs. KFEM believes that “K-pop can set an example since it has the ability to impact people all across the world”.

Fans at the K-pop album store.

One of the digital albums that got huge attention is BTS J-Hope’s release of “Jack in the Box», including a QR code, which consumers can scan through the Weverse community app to see the photo and music files. However, some of the fans met that decision with skepticism, as one of them stated: “ as a consumer, and also a fan, I sort of can understand why companies have decided to start making this, but also as a long fan of a lot of groups; I definitely prefer having physical CDs than digital codes, you can feel them in your hands, they are very important to me”- Adriana, K-pop fan.

Physical and digital K-pop albums at the Myeondong undeground shopping center.

Nevertheless, some institutions are willing to make more effort towards eco-friendly movements, and one of the examples is the Design Korea exhibition 2022, which was held in November this year, covering the upcoming 2023 trends and new developments in the design sphere. It was focused on the design of the innovation for the solution of serious global issues, the innovative growth in the sustainability direction, and the sustainable answer for business and the environment. Aiming for environmental sustainability, the design-based manufacturing innovation center promotes the systematic application of design for the sustained growth of small and medium-sized businesses.

People exploring designed products.

“We believe that eco-friendly designs of products are a crucial part of the ESG movement. For that reason, we organized this exhibition so people can get more conscious about how products can be made or reproduced of diverse eco-friendly materials, and be used daily, exceeding the expectations”- one of the organizers of the exhibition.

Eco-friendly products presented at the Design Exhibition 2022.

Useless or discarded items such as by-products and waste materials were reborn as products with high artistic and environmental value through the designer's creative ideas: 3D printing lighting fixture 'Omi' made of orange peel, Bioplastic toy made from sugarcane, 'I Was a Foil' wallet and props made from discarded coffee bags, cups and plates made from seaweed and the eggshells, this and many other products were presented on the exhibition. The organizer of the exhibition believes that design-based, sustainable innovation approaches can develop competitive products in the future.