K-pop CD output draws fire as plastic waste talks loom

SEOUL - K-pop music may be South Korea's buzziest export, but the industry needlessly creates mountains of plastic in its home market by churning out CDs that most fans do not even listen to, critics say.

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What the fans are interested in are photos of band members that come with the CD and essentially function as trading cards, often becoming collectors' items.

The catch is, each CD will typically contain photos of just one band member. It is not clear what photos will be in the CDs, and fans often buy multiple CDs until they get their favourite band member's photos.

The practice, while very lucrative for K-pop agencies, is hugely wasteful, says Ms Kim Na-yeon of activist group Kpop4planet.

The group plans to highlight the issue while South Korea hosts United Nations negotiations from Nov 25 to Dec 1 over a treaty to control plastic waste and will take part in a demonstration to raise awareness about the climate crisis on Nov 23.

"Most people listen to music via streaming and most don't even have CD players," says Ms Kim.