Environment: Society: News: Hankyoreh Mobile

A supermarket has appeared in the United States that does not sell disposable plastic bottled water. It is a company acquired by E-Mart in Korea in 2018. New Seasons Market based in Oregon and New Leaf Community Market, a sister company in California, announced on the 7th that “we will not sell disposable plastic bottled water starting from’Earth Day’ on the 22nd.” New Seasons Market, an organic food retailer, and New Leaf Community Market, a subsidiary, are affiliated with the distribution company Goodfoot Holdings, and were bought by E-Mart in Korea for 330 billion won in 2018. There are 19 New Seasons Markets in Oregon, Washington, and California, and 5 New Reef Community Markets are operating around the central coast of California. Earth Day marks the 50th anniversary of this year as a day of global environmental protection established to inform the seriousness of the global environmental pollution problem.

New Seasons Market Sustainability Manager Anitter Petty said, “I’ve been thinking about the packaging problem for a long time, and two years ago, I started to concrete a plan to get rid of bottled water bottles from the shelves. This decision is based on science, such as consulting with the Oregon State Department of Environment,” he told a local newspaper. Bottled water bottles are projected to produce more than 500 billion bottles this year alone, but many are not being recycled. As consumers’ awareness of environmental destruction is increasing, some bottled water companies are paying attention to alternative packaging methods such as Alunimune. However, New Seasons Market decided to remove all disposable mineral water bottles, whether aluminum cans or glass bottles, from the shelves. This is because bottled water bottles made of other materials are not without problems. Glass bottles have a high recycling rate, but they are heavy, so they have a disadvantage in that they have a lot of carbon emissions in the delivery process. Aluminum cans are advantageous for recycling, but the recycling rate in the United States is currently less than half. In addition, the aluminum can production process itself has an impact on the environment. “Bottles, caps and seals are the second most common marine debris,” Petty said. Using recycled bottles, we can eliminate 2.5 million disposable plastic bottles, glass bottles and aluminum cans annually.” The person in charge of E-Mart’s public relations team said, “The US local business is conducted locally. It is true that the sale of plastic bottled water less than 1 liter has been stopped. By Lee Geun-young, staff reporter