A surge in demand for cold and frozen food parcel deliveries is driving up the use of gel packs, sparking concerns over environmental and health risks of microplastic pollution.

“As the use of ice packs is expected to increase rapidly due to the rise in online shopping during COVID-19 pandemic, government-level systematic measures are needed to resolve the problem,” said Rep. Woo Won-shik of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea in a statement Wednesday.

According to the lawmaker, ice pack production is expected to nearly triple from 110 million packs, or 33,000 metric tons, in 2016 to 320 million packs, or 96,000 tons, if increased uptake of online shopping from consumers continues this year.

The estimation is based on data compiled by the Ministry of Environment and Statistics Korea.

Super absorbent polymer, a type of microplastic contained in gel ice packs, causes several environmental problems when disposed of at landfills or incineration.

The material lowers the incineration efficiency and increases the processing cost as it absorbs water. Harmful gas such as dioxins can be released during incineration. Degradation of super absorbent polymer in landfills takes about 500 years.

“As the ice pack issue has been continuously raised, private companies and local governments have voluntarily tried to reuse ice packs and find alternative eco-friendly materials,” Woo said.

Since September last year, Market Kurly, an online door-to-door grocery service provider, replaced its gel packs with paper-wrapped water-based ice packs so that consumers can pour the content down the drain.

Seoul’s Gangdong-gu has set up 18 recycle bins for ice gel packs. The district office collects and sterilizes used packs and distributes them to vendors at traditional markets, butchers and restaurant owners who need them.



By Park Han-na (hnpark@heraldcorp.com)