K-Pop Albums’ Plastic Consumption Skyrockets To Shocking Numbers, Environmental Concerns Rise

K-Pop — South Korea’s explosive cultural export — is celebrated for its catchy tunes, intricate choreographies, and global influence. However, it seems that its meteoric rise to global popularity has inadvertently led to a significant environmental concern. Recent data reveals that the amount of plastic used in manufacturing K-Pop albums has surged by over 14 times in the past six years.

Plastic pollution for illustrative purposes. | Evening Standard

Documents obtained by Woo Won Shik of the Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) from the Ministry of Environment show that K-Pop entertainment companies used an astonishing 801.5 tons of plastic in 2020 for the production of physical albums. This includes the CDs, photo cards, and wrapping vinyl. To put this into perspective, the figure was a mere 55.8 tons in 2017.

Bulk-bought albums by Korean fans. | KPop4Planet

What’s even more alarming is that these figures might be an underestimation. Given the massive sales volume of K-Pop albums, the actual amount of plastic used could be much higher. Data from the local sales tracker Circle Chart indicates that over 74.2 million K-Pop albums were sold in South Korea in 2020. This translates to approximately 1,395 tons of plastic waste just from the CDs, excluding other packaging materials and merchandise. Each CD unit, on average, weighs around 18 grams.

SEVENTEEN fans were criticized for throwing boxes full of albums in the trash.

HYBE, one of the giant entertainment companies and the driving force behind BTS, disclosed in its sustainability management report that it alone used 894.6 tons of plastic for producing and packaging K-Pop albums in 2020.

Activists outside HYBE | KPop4Planet

As plastic usage surges, these companies find themselves bearing a larger financial burden. They are required to pay increasing amounts in charges as compensation for their environmental impact.

The environmental concerns have not fallen on deaf ears among the K-Pop fandom. A 2021 survey by Kpop4Planet, a digital climate initiative led by fans, found that a staggering 95.6% of respondents believe that entertainment companies should be held responsible for the industry’s climate actions. Fans and artists were deemed responsible by 59.4% and 39.5% of respondents, respectively.

In response, Kpop4Planet has launched a global advocacy campaign titled “No K-Pop on a Dead Planet.” The campaign pushes for a greener and more sustainable industry. They have been urging companies to introduce a “green album option.” This would allow fans to pay for multiple albums while only receiving a limited number of physical copies, thus reducing waste.

Boxes full of NCT albums were thrown away after pulling out their photocards.

Although entertainment companies have made moves towards more environmentally friendly practices, such as digitally distributing music and merchandise, these measures are not enough. Kpop4Planet’s call for a green album option remains unanswered.

KPop4Planet’s campaigns. | K-Pop 4 Planet

Surprisingly, the environment ministry currently has no plans to impose regulations on entertainment companies to curtail their plastic waste. There’s also no initiative to include music albums on an overpackaging monitoring list.

‘Kpop 4 Planet’ volunteers delivered the albums they collected in the drive to HYBE. | Yonhap

Representative Woo emphasized the global influence of the genre and urged entertainment companies to enhance their ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) management standards. He also called upon the environment ministry to devise strategies to combat this growing issue. Among his suggestions were regulations requiring companies to provide disposal information on album packaging and establishing cost-sharing measures for waste management.