From next year, plastic toys will also need to be collected and recycled by manufacturers, importers, and sellers along with other plastic products. The Ministry of Climate, Energy, and Environment announced on the 16th that the amendment to the ‘Enforcement Decree of the Act on the Promotion of Saving and Recycling of Resources,’ which includes adding plastic toys to the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) system, was approved at the Cabinet meeting and will be implemented from January 1st next year.
The Extended Producer Responsibility system is a system where producers pay contributions to a cooperative to fulfill their recycling obligations, and the cooperative provides recycling support funds based on the performance of recycling companies. This amendment aims to promote resource circulation by incorporating plastic toys, which were previously classified as difficult-to-recycle items and subject to waste disposal fees, into the full recycling system.
Since 2019, the government has been operating a pilot collection, sorting, and recycling system by setting recycling rate targets through voluntary agreements with producer groups. The stable recycling foundation was confirmed by exceeding the targets every year, leading to the inclusion of toys in the Extended Producer Responsibility system. When the amendment is implemented, 18 types of toys, including activity, art and craft, puzzles, functional, blocks, and assembly toys, will be newly included in the Extended Producer Responsibility system.
The recycling standard cost for toys is set at 343 won per kg, reflecting the actual costs of collection, transportation, sorting, and recycling. The method of separating and discharging toys that people dispose of in daily life will also be clarified with this amendment, allowing general plastic toys to be separated and discharged in the same way as existing plastic products without any special procedures. However, toys that use batteries or are classified as electrical or electronic products must be disposed of through dedicated small appliance collection boxes or electronic product recovery systems operated by local governments to eliminate fire and explosion risks.