South Korea’s cafes, restaurants face a barrage of complaints over ban on plastic cups

The coffee shops and restaurants in South Korea are reportedly receiving complaints from customers after disposable cups and dishes were banned for diners. The establishments cannot do anything about the ban since it was the government's order to stop the use of disposable utensils in their stores.

The South Korean government imposed a ban on plastic cups in fast-food outlets, and the policy went into effect on Friday, April 1. As per The Korea Times, the use of disposable utensils was first prohibited in 2018, and the ban was lifted in 2020.

When the pandemic struck, the regulation was brought back to stop the spread of COVID-19. The government eased up the restriction a few months later, but the Ministry of Environment is now imposing the same rule with the same strictness when it was first implemented as the country's government believes the COVID situation will soon enter the endemic phase.

"People got used to using plastic cups again during the last two years and I understand that many still feel uneasy about drinking beverages in a mug, which many people share at cafes and restaurants," a coffee shop owner only identified by her surname Jeon said in a statement. "However, there is nothing I can do about the government's policy but people keep asking me if they can just use a plastic cup because they are going to leave in five minutes."

There are also locals who believe that the restriction on the use of plastic cups is not effective because the ban is only implemented in South Korea. They are saying this because the removal of disposables is part of the effort to help save the environment.

"The government is encouraging people to use personal cups but they are also made using plastic," another customer said. "I don't know how Korea alone banning plastic cups can help improve environmental protection."

Meanwhile, The Korea Herald previously reported that the country has banned single-use plastics cups once again. The Environment Ministry ordered restaurants and coffee shops to follow and containers, plastic cups, toothpicks, and wooden chopsticks were not allowed even in bars and food stalls. This recent prohibition was announced just last week.