S. Korean restaurants see no alternative to plastic packaging and delivery: survey

South Korean restaurant owners have no choice but to use plastic due to lack of alternatives despite being costly and bad for the environment, according to a survey by the Korea Foodservice Industry Research Institute.

In a survey of 150 restaurant owners, 73.8 percent said they were using “more plastic for packaging and delivery.”

Of the respondents, 89.3 percent agreed that disposable materials are hurting the environment, while another 71.8 percent said plastic is costly.

According to research, restaurants spend roughly 10 percent of each menu item's cost on packaging and delivery.

Despite this, 84.6 percent of all respondents said there were no alternatives available.

Another poll of 115 customers was taken, with 71.6 percent of them in favor of switching restaurant disposable goods with multi-purpose containers.

However, 62.9 percent of consumers will give their backing only if there were no additional charges.