Reusable containers cut funeral home waste by 85%, but three walls remain

The Seoul Medical Center's funeral hall has set a powerful precedent by drastically cutting down on waste, demonstrating a viable path toward a more sustainable funeral industry. Since July 2023, the elimination of single-use plastics and tableware has not only cleaned up the environment within the facility but also significantly eased the burden of waste management. This move, which has been met with positive feedback from visitors, highlights a growing awareness and demand for eco-friendly practices even in traditionally conservative settings.

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Waste has definitely decreased.

This transition, however, is not without its challenges. While the Seoul Medical Center and Samsung Medical Center have embraced reusable containers, many other funeral homes in Seoul continue to rely heavily on disposable items. This disparity is largely due to a regulatory gap: the law prohibiting single-use items in food service primarily applies to establishments with their own cooking and washing facilities, leaving many funeral homes exempt. This loophole allows the majority of the city's funeral homes to operate without the same environmental constraints.

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We were concerned about many complaints if we banned single-use items, but it was unexpectedly not the case.

The economic and logistical aspects also present hurdles. Although reusable containers can be used hundreds of times, their initial cost is higher, and they require dedicated space for storage and a robust system for collection and cleaning. Funeral home managers often express concerns about the increased workload for staff, who must handle the heavier, reusable dishes and manage the logistics of the return system. Furthermore, the cost of waste disposal for single-use items is deceptively low, failing to reflect the true environmental cost, which makes the economic argument for reusable options less immediately compelling for some.

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About 60% of the bereaved families and mourners who experienced reusable containers at funeral homes in Seoul last year responded that they were very satisfied for reasons such as 'eco-friendliness'.

As South Korea, like much of the world, grapples with plastic waste and seeks to transition to a circular economy, the success at Seoul Medical Center offers a beacon of hope. It underscores the need for stronger policy interventions, such as expanding the scope of single-use item bans and providing more robust support for businesses adopting reusable systems. The experience of these pioneering institutions suggests that with the right incentives and regulatory framework, even traditionally wasteful industries can pivot towards sustainability, proving that environmental responsibility can indeed be integrated into solemn occasions like funerals.

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Funeral homes must be made to find it inconvenient to choose to use single-use items by increasing the cost of production and use, and at the same time, a policy to immediately ban their use should be implemented in funeral homes where alternative reusable containers exist.