Although the current Act prescribes that the Minister of Environment shall determine and publicize standards for improvement, etc. of the quality and structure of packing materials to make it easier to recycle such materials, the procedures and systems have been insuffcient to check whether such standards have been met and expedite the implementation thereof.

Therefore, this Amendment aims to improve the current system regarding the quality and structure of packing materials by preparing a procedure whereby the standards on quality and structure of packing materials are determined, orders for a production suspension, etc., are issued in case such standards have not been determined, evaluations on packing material grades are conducted when there are concerns that the quality and structure of packing materials may be a burden on recycling, orders for improvements are issued according to the evaluation results, and penalties are imposed in noncompliance with such orders.

Also, this Amendment aims to label the evaluation grade of quality and structure of packing materials on the exterior thereof to enable consumers to choose products after considering their recyclability, thereby encouraging producers to make improvements to the quality and structure of packing materials.

Details

A. Producers obligated to recycle packing materials shall be obliged to comply with the standards on quality and structure of packing materials determined by the Minister of Environment (Article 9-2).

B. The Minister of Environment shall provide a standard for evaluating the quality and structure of packing materials and the ease of recycling such packing materials and conduct evaluations regarding manufactured/imported packing materials as prescribed in the Ordinance of the Ministry of Environment. Producers obligated to recycle shall label the results of evaluation of quality and structure of packing materials on the exterior of packing materials as prescribed in the Ordinance of the Ministry of Environment (Article 9-3).

C. The Minister of Environment may order producers obligated to recycle who manufacture/import packing materials in violation of the standards on quality and structure of packing materials or sell products using such packing materials to take corrective measures or prohibit them from manufacturing/importing. Where an order to suspend manufacturing/importing/sale shall be issued and the product subject to such an order is deemed necessary to be manufactured/imported and sold, penalty surcharges not exceeding one billion won may be imposed instead of the order of suspension of manufacturing/import, etc. (Article 9-4, 9-5).