Dongwon F&B Accelerates Eco-Friendly Management... Aiming to Reduce Plastic by 11 Million Water Bottles

Various Action Plans for Environmental Protection from Small Daily Practices to Company-wide Management Policies
Various Practical Measures Including Employee Relay Challenges, Packaging Reduction, and PET Bottle Recycling

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Seon-ae] Dongwon F&B announced on the 7th that it will actively embark on 필 (必) environmental management starting this month through its company-wide eco-friendly campaign, ‘Eco Challenge.’

‘Eco Challenge’ is an in-house eco-friendly campaign by Dongwon F&B that implements various plans for environmental protection, ranging from small daily practices to company-wide management policies, based on the ‘5R (Reduce, Replace, Redesign, Recycle, Restart)’ behavioral model. It was initiated by a voluntarily formed internal project task force aimed at raising employees’ environmental awareness and increasing positive social impact through eco-friendly projects in each business division.

Dongwon F&B plans to lead environmental protection by reducing packaging materials across all food products it produces, including dairy, shelf-stable HMR, and frozen foods. The annual reduction targets are 166 tons of plastic and 211 tons of paper, equivalent to 11 million 500ml water bottles and 42 million A4 sheets, respectively. All business divisions will participate in creating a 필 environmental management culture through various strategies such as minimizing the space between individual products during packaging and redesigning packaging.

Dongwon F&B also plans to expand the use of ‘Dongwon Saemmul Fresh,’ the nation’s first frozen spring water coolant, launched in March. Unlike conventional ice packs that cannot be recycled, Dongwon Saemmul Fresh uses drinkable spring water frozen to serve as a coolant.

The weight of Dongwon Saemmul PET bottles has been reduced by 12.9% through continuous plastic reduction efforts. According to measurements by the National Institute of Forest Science, this reduction corresponds to the environmental protection effect of planting 8.37 million pine trees annually. Thanks to these efforts, the company received the Ministry of Environment’s Environmental Label certification last year, following the same recognition in 2016.

Additionally, Dongwon F&B will replace the packaging of its pet food brand Nutri Plan products with the eco-friendly biodegradable film ‘Eco Sobre.’ Eco Sobre is a pouch film developed and launched last year by Dongwon Systems, Dongwon Group’s leading domestic packaging manufacturer, and is an eco-friendly product that naturally decomposes up to 90% within two years.

Beyond these eco-friendly management policies, Dongwon F&B plans to introduce and operate a relay challenge to encourage employees to voluntarily participate in eco-friendly actions. Employees will practice activities such as using scrap paper, using tumblers, habitual recycling, reducing food waste, and growing plants in their daily lives, share these on the company’s online bulletin board, and nominate the next participant in a relay format to promote participation in eco-friendly activities. Outstanding cases will be selected and awarded in a ceremony later.

A Dongwon F&B official stated, “Through the ‘Eco Challenge,’ we will actively carry out various activities and establish ourselves as a 필 environmental company fulfilling environmental responsibilities. We plan to continue creating diverse activities and new 필 environmental management strategies that employees can participate in.”