Hanjin Launches Platform 'PLANET'... "Transforming Disposable Products into Eco-Friendly Alternatives"

(From left) Yoo Jung Lee, Head of Strategy Planning Team at TerraCycle, Jihoon Lee, Head of Korea Branch, Samsuk Noh, CEO of Hanjin, and Hyunmin Cho, Vice President of Future Growth Strategy and Marketing, are posing for a commemorative photo after launching the eco-friendly upcycling platform ‘PLANET’.

[Asia Economy Reporter Dongwoo Lee] Hanjin announced on the 4th that it has launched the eco-friendly upcycling platform ‘PLANET’ in collaboration with TerraCycle, a global recycling consulting company, as part of its Creating Shared Value (CSV) activities.

The ‘PLANET’ platform’s name combines the meaning of ‘Planet,’ the Earth we live on, and ‘Plan-it,’ referring to a plan for upcycling. Hanjin, which possesses logistics capabilities, and TerraCycle, which has upcycling expertise, provide a service that allows easy and convenient online requests for the collection of disposable products and their recycling into resources, contributing to ‘improving domestic environmental pollution’ and ‘activating a resource circulation culture.’

To this end, the two companies signed a business agreement in November last year and carried out upcycling services that collect used products from numerous companies such as Coca-Cola, Yogiyo, and HiteJinro, and recycle them into goods.

During the service period, Hanjin handled the collection and delivery of disposable products and collaborated with Eco Life Packaging, a manufacturer of eco-friendly delivery boxes called ‘Wing Box,’ to produce zero-waste boxes capable of storing and collecting disposable products. TerraCycle was responsible for the resource circulation process to recycle the disposable products collected through the zero-waste boxes.

Ahead of the platform launch on the 10th, Hanjin held a platform briefing session on the 3rd at the Hanjin Building in Jung-gu, Seoul, attended by key stakeholders including Hanjin CEO Noh Sam-seok, Vice President in charge of Future Growth Strategy and Marketing Cho Hyun-min, and Jihoon Lee, Head of TerraCycle Korea.

The briefing introduced the collaboration story between Hanjin and TerraCycle, the eco-friendly upcycling business model, platform interface and key features, and marketing plans to activate the platform.

Through the upcycling platform ‘PLANET,’ the two companies collect disposable products generated at homes or workplaces via zero-waste boxes and recycle them into eco-friendly products such as tumblers and eco-bags, which are then sold to general consumers and businesses.

Companies can conduct various eco-friendly campaigns through the platform, and general consumers can freely participate in the various campaigns run by companies. In the future, they plan to continuously develop collaboration models linking the greenhouse gas contributions of companies conducting campaigns with the use of points by general consumers.

A Hanjin official said, “We hope that through the eco-friendly upcycling platform, many people will take an interest in eco-friendly activities, and a culture will be formed where anyone, whether general consumers or companies, can easily and conveniently participate in eco-friendly activities.”