어린이 녹색생활환경 구축연구(Ⅲ) : 위해저감을 위한 녹색소비 활성화 방안 = Building Green Living Environment for Children(Ⅲ): Strategies to Promote Green Consumption for Risk Reduction

다국어 초록 (Multilingual Abstract)

Ⅰ. Introduction
1. Background and the aim of the study
□ Background
○ Due to the fact that children may be exposed not only to children’s products but also to general consumer products, more comprehensive safety management system for harmful chemicals for children is necessary.
○ Fundamentally, standards on products containing hazardous chemicals that children may be exposed to should be strengthened, but at the same time, it is necessary to come up with measures that consumers can take.
○ The Fourth Basic Plan on Promotion of Purchase of Green Products aims to promote the purchase of green products in the private sector by implementing a < Green Purchasing Label System > for childcare centers as a pilot target. Therefore, it is necessary to find means to promote the system by identifying items that are in high demand in childcare centers, and sufficient consideration should be given to risk reduction in the process.
○ As exposure reduction paradigm in the living environment is changing into a paradigm that considers reduction of exposure to environmental harmful factors in the entire production-consumption-disposal process, not only purchase and use but also the impact of disposal after use must be considered.
○ It is necessary to discuss comprehensive risk reduction measures including reduction of both short-term and long-term risk due to environmental pollution by reviewing the entire ‘purchase-use-disposal’ process.
□ Aim of the study
○ This study was designed based on the NEXUS goal of “chemicals and waste management that minimizes adverse effects on human health”129) proposed in the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, and aims to contribute to the greening of children’s living environment by identifying and managing harmful factors in children’s living environment, while at the same time encouraging green consumption.
○ Through research in the first and second years, harmful factors in children’s living environment (childcare centers) were identified, priority substances and products to be managed were selected, and strategies for implementing green consumption in childcare centers were developed.
○ This study, conducted in the final year of the entire research period, intends to develop an integrated green consumption promotion plan to reduce hazards in the long term, by reducing short-term hazards caused in the process of purchasing and using products for childcare centers which is the main activity space for children, and reducing the environmental impact in the disposal process, based on the green consumption strategy drawn up using the research results in the first and second years.
Ⅱ. Policies and Cases Analysis of Green Consumption for Children
1. Laws and regulations on domestic children’s products
○ Regulations on domestic children’s products are managed by various departments such as the Ministry of Environment, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, and the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety by item as shown in Table 1.
2. Green product certification system and promotion cases
□ Definition and scope of green products
○ Green products are defined as products that minimize the input of energy and resources and the generation of greenhouse gases and pollutants.
○ The scope of application of green products is stipulated by law as eco-labeled products, low-carbon products, and good recycled products (GR).
○ Generally, the general public also percieves them as products that minimize health effects.
□ Cases overseas of promoting the consumption of green products related to children
○ Cases of children’s clothing and toys certified by the Nordic Swan Ecolabel were identified.
○ In some cases, private online sites based in Northern Europe selling children’s products have their own certification standards, which shows that the scope of green products is expanding to include ethical standards such as animal welfare, in addition to standards that emphasize safe materials and environment.
○ Various cases of promoting the consumption of green products can be found in stationery and toys such as Green Toys (100% recycled toys) in California, ecoBirdy (making children’s furniture using grinded toys) in Belgium, eco-friendly school supply purchasing campaign in Austria, and an eco-friendly stationery brand, Remarkable, in the UK.
○ In the case of eco-labeled products in Korea, there are certification standards for stationery and toys, but since no such products exist, it is necessary to expand the manufacturing of green products for children through support for related fields.
3. Cases of guidelines for risk reduction at the stage of use
□ Cases overseas
○ ‘Caring for Our Children’ and ‘Eco-Healthy Child Care Checklist’ in the United States
- Provides information on how to reduce hazardous materials such as chemicals in the air, household chemicals, lead, mercury, and radon, as well as on risk reduction of the products such as furniture, carpets, art supplies, and plastic toys, and also provides the relevant information in the form of a checklist.
○ ‘Checklist for Creating Healthier, Greener Child Care Settings’ in Canada
- A checklist distributed by the Canadian Partnership for Children’s Health & Environment (CPCHE) presenting various areas that need checking, classifying them by space in the facility or activity.
○ ‘Chemical Smart Preschool Initiative’ in Stockholm, Sweden
- Aims to monitor harmful substances in childcare centers, identify sources of exposure, and replace them with new products containing smaller amounts of hazardous substances.
- Includes home visiting programs or online education for childcare centers and carrying out educational and support activities for parents and product manufacturers.
- Develops and distributes guidelines on the purchase, use, and disposal to childcare centers.
□ Domestic cases
○ ‘Children’s Environmental Health Guide’ (Ministry of Environment and National Institute of Environmental Research)
- Information on environmental diseases, practical guidelines for daily life, and action guidelines to avoid exposure to harmful heavy metals, endocrine disruptors, and airborne pollutants
○ ‘Environmental Health Guide for Mothers and Infants’ (Ministry of Environment)
- Provides information that mothers raising infants and prospective mothers need to know to reduce exposure to hazardous chemicals
○ ‘Good School Supply Purchasing Guide’ (Ministry of Public Administration and Security, Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, Ministry of Health and Welfare)
- Presents precautions for a total of six major school supplies including school bags, notebooks, erasers, pencil cases, clips, and files
4. Cases of repairing and reusing toys
□ Cases overseas
○ ‘A Toy’s Life and Beyond’ in the UK: As a social enterprise, it holds repair and exchange events through the repair cafe, with the purpose of expanding awareness of the environmental impact of toys.
○ ‘That Toy Thing’ in the UK: Runs a rental business with donated toys that have already been used, and encourages families in Greater Manchester area to rent toys rather than buying new ones.
○ ‘Second Chance Toys’ in the United States: A non-profit organization that receives donated toys and distributes them in the community
- Most of the materials, human resources and financial resources are procured by volunteers, building up linkages with local communities and companies in various ways (support for vehicles, human resources, etc., in addition to financial support in connection with ESG activities)
- Donations are made through regular donation events in recycling centers as previously described, and in the case of irregular collection events, the volunteering organizers are in charge of selecting the location and delivery.
○ Garrett County Government, Maryland, the United States - Plastic Toy Recycling: A recall and recycling system for toys in collaboration with the Mattel Toy Company
○ Lego® Replay initiative in the United States: The toy company’s own recall system
□ Domestic cases
○ Support Center for Childcare: The Support Center for Childcare in Ulju-gun, Ulsan provides services of repairing broken toys of childcare centers in partnership with a local repair service company (Elephant Factory).
○ Green Move Workshop: A social cooperative established by the Hyundai Motor Group in cooperation with the Community Chest of Korea and the Elephant Factory. Toys are donated from homes, childcare centers, and toy libraries, and distributed to the underprivileged.
- Toys that cannot be repaired and reused are sorted by color and reused as educational materials. In some cases, new products are developed for the purpose of recycling.
○ TRU (Toy Recycle Union), an NGO corporation: A non-profit organization established to solve environmental problems caused by plastics from toys. It holds used toy sales events, runs environmental education programs and toy donation projects, and conducts research on playing with toys.
○ There are cases of toy repair and reuse projects associated with local governments in Seosan-si and Haman-gun.
□ Expansion of demand for repair rights
○ Repair right refers to the consumer’s right to repair the product themselves in the event of a product failure.
○ Legislation is underway in the United States, and similar bills have recently been proposed in Korea.
- In the United States, the legislation is called the Right to Repair Act or the Fair Repair Act.
- The bill requires manufacturers to provide parts and relevant instructions to users so that consumers can conveniently repair products on their own.
○ ‘IFIXIT’, a representative and active online repair information platform in the United States provides information on toys.
Ⅲ. Analysis of the Needs for Green Consumption in Childcare Centers
1. In-depth interviews with childcare center principals
□ Outline of in-depth interviews
○ In-depth interviews with childcare center principals were conducted five times with 18 childcare centers in total.
- The type and size of the childcare centers were considered when selecting interviewees, and the main content of the interview included (1) purchase experiences relating to the certification mark, priorities and necessity of green purchase, (2) refraining from purchasing non-green product items, (3) green consumption that takes into account the characteristics of children’s behavior, (4) product disposal process, and (5) measures to stimulate green consumption.
□ Interview results
○ Recognition on the certification marks related to green purchase: Most of the interviewees recognized the KC mark and eco-friendly certification mark, showed low awareness on the good recycling certification mark, and agreed on the need for eco-friendly certification system that has stricter standards for chemicals in children’s products.
○ Recognition on green purchase items: As for green purchase priority items, hygiene products such as toilet paper and wet tissues, detergents, tableware and kitchenware, toys and teaching materials, bedding, rugs, safety mats, etc. ranked high.
- The main considerations when prioritizing green products were whether there is a high probability of direct physical contact and mouthing, whether children are frequently exposed to the products for a long time, and whether children are continuously exposed to the products in their daily environment.
○ Green purchasing experience in childcare centers
- Recently, sanitary products and consumables were the mostly purchased green products. The main green purchase route was the green product information system or green store search, and the awareness of the green purchasing center was low.
- Practical difficulties and impediments to green purchasing include a limited budget, high price for green products, low access to green products, lack of information about products provided when purchasing online, low understanding of eco-friendly products, lack of supply of green products, and decreased motivation of repurchasing due to the poor quality of green products.
○ Awareness and experiences on the use of products that are not eco-friendly
- Respondents chose products that contain materials such as felt, coated paper, interior film sheet, foam board, used to make teaching materials and vinyl, wet tissue, and materials used for decoration as products used in childcare centers that were not eco-friendly.
- Factors that prevent the practice of green consumption are the increased use of disposable products due to COVID-19 pandemic situation, the preference for disposable products due to ‘convenience’, parents’ concerns about hygiene, and the use of products essential to children’s activities.
○ Childcare centers dispose of teaching materials usually as general waste using volume-based garbage bags. The materials are reused for art activities occasionally, donated, or brought to flea markets.
○ The interviewees listed improved accessibility, green education, provision of information on disposal, repair projects, and expansion of financial support as requirements for promoting green consumption in childcare centers.
2. Survey of green purchase/disposal at childcare centers
□ Overview of the survey of green purchase/disposal at childcare centers
○ Among the childcare centers that participated in the in-depth interview, surveys were conducted with a total of 12 childcare centers that expressed intention to participate.
○ The surveys were conducted twice in which centers were asked to list green products they purchased or products disposed of in the form of a household ledger.
□ Result of the survey on green purchase/disposal at childcare centers
○ Looking at the purchase status, stationery was the most purchased, followed by other furnishings and teaching aids/toys.
- Other supplies were daily consumables such as disposable plastic gloves, paper cups, toilet paper, and wet wipes.
- The majority of purchases were made online (60.7%), and in the case of textile bedding and teaching aids/toys, the proportion of offline purchases was high.
- The participants felt that it is difficult to check the KC (Korea Certification) mark when making a purchase online.
○ Status of non-purchased goods
- Among the items that centers refrain from purchasing, disposable products (paper cups, plates, etc.) ranked highest, followed by mainly consumables which were, in order of score, disposable products (vinyl), toilet paper, and coating paper.
○ Disposal status
- There were a total of 67 disposal cases, most of them being the disposal of teaching aids/toys.
- The most frequently discarded items were plastic toys, followed by automobiles and storage baskets. Physical damage was the most common reason for disposal.
- The survey period was from January 1st to July 15th, and it is highly likely that the year-end product arrangement were omitted. If the year-end is included in the survey period, the replacement of teaching materials, etc. is likely to be included.
○ Reuse/upcycling status
- There were only 23 items of reuse/upcycling, and reuse/upcycling occured mainly in teaching aids/toys.
- Purchasing second-hand items has not been widely promoted due to the difficulty in accounting at childcare centers.
- Reuse/upcycling of reusable/recyclable items mainly included upcycling as educational materials.
Ⅳ. Strategy to Implement Green Consumption at Childcare Centers
1. Verifying the risk reduction effects of green products
□ Analysis target products and target substances
○ As a result of in-depth interviews and case studies at childcare centers, major purchase items or items requiring risk assessment among the items that have eco-label certification standards were selected.
- Printing paper, toner cartridge, stationery, kitchen detergent, cosmetic soap, toilet paper, air freshener, and foamed synthetic resin mat
○ The substances analyzed were phthalates and flame retardants selected as priority substances in the first-year study, and heavy metals were also examined.
□ Analysis result
○ The eco-labeling system’s management standards for hazardous substances were evaluated as high overall.
- It conforms to or exceeds the standards stipulated in the Children’s Products Act.
- In the case of flame retardants, standards exist only in the eco-labeling system.
- In the case of good recycled products, standards that are safe for children needs to be established.
○ It is necessary to strongly encourage the purchase of eco-labeled products for items children may be exposed to.
- The expansion of eco-labeled products for children’s items may have a greater ‘health promotion’ effect than the expansion of eco-labeled products for general consumer products. Ensuring the credibility of eco-labeled products may encourage consumers to gradually pursue eco-friendliness as well, in addition to pursuing risk reduction.
2. Guideline development for risk reduction at the stage of use
□ Development of a self-checklist for risk reduction
○ A guideline was developed based on the domestic and foreign literature review, and reviewed by five experts in the field of environmental health and working staff at 12 childcare centers. It takes the form of a self-checking tool (checklist) that can be actively practiced and checked.
- It consists of items that are essential to reducing exposure to hazardous chemicals in childcare centers but are easy to miss in real life. There are 14 items in total and explanatory data are added to each item.
□ Utilization of the self-checklist
○ It is recommended to consider developing the ‘Green Childcare Center’ mark certified by the Ministry of Environment and presenting it to centers that show best utilizes the checklist.
○ The explanatory data in the checklist can be published in the form of a guidebook (e.g. Guidebook for Risk Management at Childcare Centers) to provide information to the parents as well as the childcare centers.
The checklist and the explanatory data can also be used for educating teachers by the Childcare Center Safety & Insurance Association.
3. Evaluation of the social value of repairing and reusing teaching materials
□ Background of the evaluation
○ Although toys account for a high proportion of plastic waste, their recycling rate is lower than that of general plastics because they are mostly made of composite materials.
- In the consumption stage, a large amount of toys are purchased and used by general households in a short period of time, and in childcare centers that use toys and teaching aids in large quantities, they are often discarded due to a lack of information on repair or reuse services.
○ This study intends to examine the feasibility of supporting the toy repair and reuse business by analyzing the economic feasibility of Company A, one of the social enterprises mainly dealing with toy recycling.
□ Result of economic analysis
○ Measurement of social value: Social Return on Investment (SROI)
※ SROI is an index that calculates the value of social values that are difficult to calculate economically and measures the return on investment.
- Company A, a social enterprise that recycles and reuses toys, collects about 200 tons of toys annually. 100 tons (50%) are reused as toys, materials of 60 tons (30%) are recycled. and about 40 ton (20%) are discarded.
- The social values created by Company A are divided into three categories: the job creation effect from hiring the general and vulnerable groups, the environmental pollution reduction effect caused by a decrease in the production of new toys, and the effect from toy donation and service provision.
- For the job creation effect, company A, a social enterprise, employs ordinary workers and the socially vulnerable, increasing their incomes and government tax revenues, and reducing government subsidies for the vulnerable.
- In the environmental point of view, since the production of new toys is expected to decrease, waste disposal costs and greenhouse gas emission are expected to decrease due to a reduction in the amount of waste.
- In the product and service point of view, it is possible to monetize the effects of community contribution such as toy donation to the local community, disinfection service, and free toy collection service.
- Company A’s social values derived from specific figures were estimated to be 36.91 million KRW, 67.77 million KRW, and 652.74 million KRW, respectively, in environment, employment, and product and service sectors. Based on this, company A’s social return on investment in 2019 is 203.8%.
□ Implications
○ It can be said that Company A, a toy recycling social enterprise, is creating various social values in terms of the environment, employment, and products and services.
○ Measures to reflect social value measurement and support it
- Social values can be estimated differently depending on the measurement method or parameters.
- Various discussions are needed for the future social performance reporting system such as measures to monetize social values and reflect them in decision-making (e.g. reporting social performance as a sub-item of financial statements in corporate disclosure).
- Despite the recent active discussion on corporate social responsibility such as ESG management, it does not lead to investment in social enterprises.
- Therefore, it is necessary to provide a standardized estimation method of social value and a plan to report it to the corporate disclosure, and ultimately, policy support is needed so that it can be operated in a sustainable form in connection with ESG management.
Ⅴ. Measures to Promote Green Consumption in Childcare Centers
1. Measures to promote purchase of green products
□ Effect of cumulative risk reduction of eco-labeled products (risk reduction effect due to environmental improvement)
○ It is necessary to show the effect of purchasing eco-labeled products on children’s health in a multifaceted and visible manner so that consumers can increase their sense of efficacy at the time of purchase.
□ Incentives for using eco-labeled products - Linking to the green product usage labeling system
○ Building a linkage to the green product usage labeling system that the Ministry of Environment is piloting for childcare centers
- Through certification of green childcare centers, consumers can be aware of efforts of childcare centers to use green products.
○ It is necessary to expand the purchase of eco-labeled products for product groups that children may be easily exposed to.
□ Promote the provision of information on green products for childcare centers
○ The current Green Product Information System homepage needs to be improved to make it easier for childcare centers to use it.
○ It is necessary to clearly present environmental standards for products promoted as eco-friendly products, but not designated eco-labled products.
□ Expand support for the production of items without certified products -stationery, toys
○ Secure the market by adjusting the allocation rate for each public procurement item after expanding product production (stationery)
○ In the case of toys, it is necessary to expand eco-label products in various ways.
- Use recycled plastics (using safe materials such as food containers and toys) or bio-based materials
□ Develop eco-friendly teaching materials and educational contents suitable for children
○ It is necessary to jointly develop creative eco-friendly teaching materials (safe + environmentally friendly + fun) with distributors, manufacturers, eco-friendly material producers (paper, wood, fiber, recycled plastics, etc.), early childhood education specialists (Support Center for Childcare), Ministry of Environment (Korea Environmental Industry & Technology Institute), Ministry of Education, Ministry of Health and Welfare, etc.
□ Reinforce the role of organizations supporting ‘green life’ beyond ‘green purchasing’
○ The Eco-friendly Living Support Center (Green Purchasing Support Center) needs to actively identify green product items necessary for childcare centers in connection with green childcare activities, and establish a network by linking local producers.
○ It is necessary to support sustainable consumption by identifying not only eco-labeled products, but also various eco-friendly consumer products such as those produced by co-ops, locally produced products, refillable products, and used products.
○ It is necessary to identify and recommend products that can be used by childcare centers by reviewing in advance whether the product is made of safe materials or whether hazardous substances were used in the manufacturing process.
2. Measures to reduce hazards in the use stage
□ Use the risk reduction checklists and guidebooks
○ Use as educational materials for childcare center teachers and parents
○ Expand and operate in the form of ‘Children’s Green Life Web site’
□ Link with inspection/evaluation system for risk reduction in the use stage
○ Link to the ‘Green Product Use Checklist’ of the green product use labeling system and the evaluation certification index for childcare centers
□ Expand risk reduction education through establishing the inter-ministerial linkage
○ Gradually include risk reduction training in the Safety Mutual Aid Association’s childcare staff training program
□ Implement cumulative risk assessment to evaluate policy implementation and select new management targets
○ Implement a cumulative risk assessment using the national biomonitoring database, and evaluate risk reduction-green consumption promotion policies based on the assessment results, and select substances-product groups for new management goals (reinforcement of management standards, expansion of eco-friendly certification, inducement to purchase green products, etc.)
3. Measures to promote the repair and reuse of teaching materials at childcare centers
□ Establish region-based teaching materials collection and reverse logistics and circulation system
○ Establish reverse logistics system linked to environmental education institutions
- Institutions that support green consumption education or publicity, such as the Eco-Friendly Living Support Center, should develop visiting lecture programs to early childhood institutions, such as once a quarter, and collect unused teaching materials during the visits.
- Use the collected materials to manufacture new products that can be used by children
□ Fundraising and supporting to promote repair and reuse services
○ Financial support from local governments and the private sector (green bonds of large companies or ESG-based investment in the financial sector) should also be actively supported.
○ Since reduction policies in local governments can be efficiently achieved through grassroots local activities, expand support for volume reduction and reuse activities
○ With the recent spread of ESG management and green bonds, it is necessary to accurately evaluate the value of business areas that reduce and reuse waste to help them grow and function as sustainable consumption infrastructure.
□ Guarantee toy repair right
○ Since the technical sensitivity is not great compared to other electronic products, provide repair information and parts, and guarantee ease of self-repair first in the toy field
Ⅵ. Policy Suggestions and Conclusion
1. Policy suggestions
□ Childcare center-centered management of hazardous chemicals for children
○ Grounds for implementing childcare center-centered policy
- Children spend most of their time at childcare centers other than home.
- Infrastructure for establishing a green living environment centered on childcare centers already exists.
- Since national and regional networks have already been established and regular training for faculty and staff is conducted, it is possible to share problem awareness and strengthen capability.
- It can indirectly lead to the establishment of a green living environment at home.
□ Management of hazardous chemicals for children linked with local governments
○ Local governments can take the lead and carry out risk management for childcare centers through various channels such as indoor monitoring program, product replacement (exchange), education, and publicity.
- Provide information on chemicals that children may be exposed to at childcare centers and information on precautions for the purchase, use, and disposal of products
- Taking the “Chemical Smart Preschool Initiative” in Stockholm as an example, an integrated strategy based on a mutual role sharing system for greening children’s living environment domestically through linking local governments - childcare centers - regional-based intermediate organizations - households can be developed.
2. Conclusion
○ This study examined ways to establish a green living environment in which children can be protected from hazardous chemicals over the three years.
○ The management of hazardous chemicals centered on childcare centers in connection with local governments proposed in this study is based on a new paradigm that connects environmental health and the circular economy.
- It is possible to build a long-term and sustainable green living environment for children through the management of chemicals throughout the entire cycle and the circulation system of materials.
○ It is necessary to recognize the risk reduction effect of green products and actively support the use of green products for children.
○ Like parents who care for children, childcare center operators are trying to provide an eco-friendly educational environment, but they are not provided with sufficient information or education.
○ Through the development of educational content on green consumption, it is expected that the results of this study will be utilized so that children can live in a safe and sustainable society while recognizing children as the protagonists of the future society, rather than looking at them only as subjects to protect.