Policy framework
National Action Plan on Marine Litter and Contaminated sediment (2021-2030)
Name:
The 1st National Action Plan on marine litter and marine contaminated sediment (2021~2030)
Brief description:
National Action plan which addresses various marine litter(including marine plastic waste and microplastics) related problems based on resource circulation and carbon-neutral approach.
Legal framework
Name:
- Marine litter and contaminated sediment Management Act
Brief description:
Legislation which has its main goal on managing marine litter(including marine plastic waste and microplastics) using environment-friendly and life-cycle apporach. - Framework act on resource circulation
Brief description: ‘Framework act on resource circulation’ aims to make a transition to sustainable circulation economy by enhancing resource circulation policies on both ocean and land and reducing unnecessary waste of natural resources and energy.
Indicators
- Water Quality Index(WQI)
- The amount of collected marine litter through national marine litter removal projects
Measures
Measures |
Achievements |
Prevention and reduction of plastic waste generation |
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Charge for single-use plastic products (e.g. shopping bags, straws) |
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Names of actions: Targeted products: Brief description: |
We see a positive improvement from last two years |
Actions for encouraging sustainable / circular product design |
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Names of actions: Brief description: As an outcome of the plan, Circular economy forum was hosted by the MOE in March of 2021 with participation of multi-stakeholders to discuss environment-friendly design of plastic products as well as ways to promote recycling of home appliances and batteries. |
We see a positive improvement from last two years |
Regulation on microplastics |
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Names of actions:
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We see a positive improvement from last two years |
Measures |
Achievements |
Environmentally sound waste management |
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Enforcement of proper waste management system |
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Names of actions: Brief description: The plan was established based on resource circulation and life-cycle approach and it comprises of 4 main strategies which can work on each stage of product’s life cycle from production to recycle. 1) Establishing resource effective system at the product manufacturing stage using resource circulation approach, 2) Promote green comsumption by minimizing the use of single-use products, 3) Enhance waste disposal system through governance, 4) Accelerate material recycling including plastic and batteries through R&D projects and institutional support. |
We see a positive improvement from last two years |
Prevention of littering, illegal dumping and unintentional leakage of waste into the ocean |
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Names of actions: The 3 rd national action plan on rivers and estuaries(2021-2025) Brief description: MOE establishes a national action plan every 5 years to effectively manage rivers and estuaries in particular that can be easily polluted by the waste entering from the land. The plan takes multi-faceted approaches using life-cycle and resource circulation approach. |
We see a positive improvement from last two years |
Measures |
Achievements |
Cleanup of marine plastic litter |
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Collection of scattered waste on beach |
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Names of actions:
Brief description:
MOF organizes a group of local residents who live nearby the sea and assign them a mission to oversee the coast. With financial support from MOF ,Marine envrionment keepers carry out clean-up activity to remove marine plastic at a beach |
We see a positive improvement from last two years |
Removal of plastic litter from the ocean |
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Names of actions: Brief description: A part of a project involves operation of clean-up vessels which remove marine litter at all national ports and fishing ports on a regular basis. MOF also regularly conducts sunken litter distribution monitoring to selectively choose the area with high pollution level of sunken litter and implement sunken litter removal project accordingly. |
We see a positive improvement from last two years |
Measures |
Achievements |
Promotion of innovative solutions |
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Policy actions for encouraging plastic alternatives (e.g. biodegradable plastics, circular product design – including use of recycled materials or closed loop recycling and so on’) |
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Names of actions:
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We see a positive improvement from last two years |
Public-private partnerships for creating and implementing innovative solution |
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Names of actions: Brief description: MOF is working on establishing a system where MOF matches a group of people(NGOs, Corporations etc.) with a beach to facilitate private sector’s participation in coastal clean-up activities. |
We see a positive improvement from last two years |
Measures |
Achievements |
Education and awareness raising |
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Education system for encouraging public awareness on MPL issues |
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‘The comprehensive plan on marine environment education (2021-2025) will be announced this year in accordance with ‘Environment education promotion act’. Based on the plan, MOF will provide online education programs to raise awareness on marine litter and to encourage people to protect the marine envriionment starting from this year. Along with this, ‘The 1 st national action plan on marine litter and marine contaminated sediments(2021-2030)’ includes the comprehensive public awareness plan to provide marine litter education targeting all age groups through collborative work between MOF and KOEM. |
We see a positive improvement from last two years |
Awareness raising campaigns related to MPL |
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National level: Names of actions:
International / Regional level: Names of actions: Brief description: ‘Strengthening and Improvement for Marine Litter Response in Indonesia’ is an ODA project of MOF which aims to enhance the marine litter response capacity of Indonesia through a capacity bulding workshop and marine litter monitoring education program targeting marine litter related stakeholders such goverment officials, NGOs and Local residents. |
National level: We see a positive improvement from last two years International / Regional level: We see a positive improvement from last two years |
Measures |
Achievements |
Monitoring & Scientific research on marine plastic litter |
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Actions for encouraging monitoring / scientific research on plastic flows and ocean surface microplastics |
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Names of actions:
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1) Actions for encouraging monitoring / scientific research on plastic flows and ocean surface microplastics We see a positive improvement from last two years |
Engagement in international/regional level actions for encouraging monitoring / scientific research on plastic flows and ocean surface microplastics |
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Names of actions: Brief description: |
We see a positive improvement from last two years |
Further information
- Framework act on resources circulation
- The 1st National Resource Circulation Plan (2018-2027)
- The 3rd national action plan on rivers and estuaries (2021-2025)
- Marine litter and contaminated sediment Management Act
- The 1st National Action Plan on marine litter and marine contaminated sediment (2021~2030)
- Environment education promotion act
- Marine Environment Information Portal (www.meis.go.kr)
Contact details
Organization: Korea Marine Environment Management Corporation
Name: Juyoung PARK
Contact: perseverance@koem.or.kr
Organization: National Institute of Environmental Research
Name: Jung-Keun OH, Young-Reul KANG
Contact: rightroot@korea.kr, kangyr@korea.kr