[Better Life Story] LG is Going Green, Inside and Out

Being an environmentally conscious company means looking deep into all business processes and putting the utmost effort into transforming, both externally and internally, from the supply chain to the organizational culture. In other words, LG aims to be an environmentally sustainable business, calling for specific and tangible actions with the three environmental ESG initiatives outlined in its Better Life Plan 2030.

The initiatives mark a paradigm shift towards adopting tangible, specific and measurable actions for a better, cleaner and greener environment. Part two of the Better Life story series, this article looks at the environmental action plans LG has established and the goals it is working hard to achieve.

According to research, the average temperature on Earth has risen by approximately 1.2 degrees Celsius (2.2 degrees Fahrenheit) since pre-industrial times. Responding to the urgency of climate change, LG remains steadfastly committed to attaining carbon neutrality, and to converting entirely to renewable energy in the long term. Its dedication to both goals can already be seen in the energy-efficient technologies applied at LG Smart Park in Changwon, South Korea.

Exercising immediate change for its carbon initiative, LG is converting to more efficient operational processes and applying energy-efficient technologies across all of its production plants. LG Smart Park, the company’s revolutionary production facility, deploys next-generation manufacturing innovations to simultaneously achieve higher production efficiency and enhanced sustainability. The manufacturing hub has increased productivity by 20 percent and reduced the cost of defective-product returns by 80 percent. Moreover, LG Smart Park has reduced greenhouse gas emissions and boosted energy efficiency per unit by 30 percent compared to the previous factory.

LG is looking to change the status quo of end-of-lifecycle management by using eco-friendly materials, streamlining manufacturing processes and turning discarded materials into ‘new’ resources, with the aim of creating a circular economy.

The reducing, recovering, recycling and reusing of materials are all very important in a circular economy. LG operates a free e-waste retrieval service in 52 countries and aims to collect an accumulated total of over eight million tons of used appliances from 2006 to 2030. As for recycling, LG is improving its existing processes to achieve a higher recycling rate, with the end goal of hitting 95 percent by 2030. As part of this, the company’s Chilseo Recycling Center (CRC) situated in Hamyang, South Korea, plans to replace the compressor and old equipment by the latter half of the year. Furthermore, LG recently invited its employees to come together in the collective journey towards circularity by using fewer disposable paper cups at work.

A global leader in consumer electronics, LG is dedicated to helping consumers realize a more sustainable lifestyle. This is why the company is applying eco-friendly technologies to all newly developed products, contributing to a smaller carbon footprint and resource recirculation.

By 2030, LG plans to have reduced total carbon emissions from the product-usage stage by 20 percent. It also projects that, from 2021 to 2030, it will have used an accumulated total of six hundred thousand tons of recycled plastics in the production of new home appliances. In the future, the company will be able to offer products that are even more energy-efficient and environmentally sustainable than its current crop of models, helping consumers to reduce their monthly energy bills, achieve a more sustainable household and enjoy the best version of the Better Life LG aims to provide.

For more on how LG is embracing inclusivity, sustainability and diversity in all that it does, stay tuned for the third and final Better Life story, coming soon to Beyond News.