Dongseo Power, Recycling Waste Plastic for 'Environment Day'

"Campaign to Collect Plastic and Then Produce Market Baskets"

Photo by Korea East-West Power Co., Ltd.

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Chaeseok] Korea East-West Power announced on the 2nd that it will hold a campaign on the 5th to celebrate World Environment Day and practice 'upcycling' by turning collected waste plastic into market baskets.

Upcycling is a process of rebirth that enhances aesthetic value by applying design to discarded resources. It is a different concept from recycling, which circulates discarded products as raw materials.

East-West Power launched the campaign 'Upcycling, Rediscovery of Use' in March to upcycle discarded plastics.

They set up upcycling booths at their headquarters in Jung-gu, Ulsan, and the Ulsan Thermal Power Plant, encouraging employees to collect used plastics.

The collected waste plastic will be used to make one 5-ton truckload of eco-friendly market baskets within this month. Six pieces of waste plastic are gathered to make one market basket.

The completed market baskets will be delivered to merchants and small business owners in local traditional markets to encourage resource recycling in daily life.

East-West Power plans to continue the campaign, making whale dolls in September and volunteer group vests in November.

An East-West Power official said, "This is a great opportunity to practice environmental protection in daily life for the Earth suffering from discarded plastics," adding, "We will continue to participate frequently in the 'upcycling campaign' to reduce plastic use and find new ways to utilize it for environmental protection."

Since last year, East-West Power has been conducting 'precycling' activities, collecting unused daily necessities and toys and donating them five times to the Ulsan Comprehensive Social Welfare Center. They are steadily carrying out social contribution activities for resource utilization and environmental protection in daily life.