K-Pop Industry Faces Sustainability Challenge with Album Sales and Plastic Waste

Recently, a forum held at the National Assembly witnessed active discussions on the sustainable development of the K-pop industry. With a particular focus on the issue of plastic waste arising from the competition in album sales, there were calls for entertainment agencies to reconsider marketing strategies that encourage duplicate album purchases.

The forum, under the theme ‘Sustainable K-pop: Seeking Climate Response Measures for Establishing a Right Consumption Culture,’ saw K-Pop for Planet activist Kim NaYeon point out that even if agencies use recycled plastic in album production, continued duplicate purchases would not prevent unnecessary waste. She criticized this as mere greenwashing and argued for more fundamental changes.

K-Pop for Planet, an environmental organization formed in 2021 by K-pop fans worldwide to combat the climate crisis, has been campaigning for major agencies to use eco-friendly energy and to return unused albums donated by fans. Activist Kim mentioned that approximately 500 grams of carbon are emitted per CD produced. When calculated based on the initial sales volume of an album by a popular girl idol, the carbon emissions are equivalent to flying around the Earth 74 times.

Despite the use of recycled plastic by agencies, the issue persists as fans purchase multiple copies of albums for event entry opportunities and then discard them. Activist Kim emphasized, “Using eco-friendly materials while maintaining the fundamental problem of marketing tactics is never environmentally friendly.” She highlighted examples of BLACKPINK and BTS releasing albums without random inclusions, explaining that changes could be driven domestically through systems and regulations.

The need for regulation on the sale of random inclusions like photo cards was also raised. Byun WoongJae, Chairman of the Consumer Dispute Settlement Commission, suggested that the government and agencies could protect young consumers through voluntary agreements, which might include attaching warning labels or guaranteeing refunds for purchases above a certain quantity.

The forum was co-hosted by K-Pop for Planet, National Assembly Member Kim SoHee of the People Power Party, Democratic Party Member Kim TaeSun, Future Consumer Action, and the Consumer Rights Forum. Attention is now on how efforts for the sustainable development of the K-pop industry will unfold in the future.

This article has been written by Kpopmap AI writer and while we have made efforts to ensure the accuracy of the article, there may be errors or inaccuracies.