[ESG Management Era] LG Electronics Recycles 750t of Waste Plastic... Braille and Voice Guidance Features Added to Home Appliances

Hyung-se Park, Head of LG Electronics HE Business Division (second from right), is explaining to Hong Jung-ki, Vice Minister of Environment, about LG OLED TV, which enables fundamental reduction of plastic usage.
[Photo by LG Electronics]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heung-soon] LG Electronics is actively participating in global efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions as part of its ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) management. A representative example is the declaration of 'Carbon Neutral 2030,' which aims to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030. The company plans to reduce carbon emissions generated during the product manufacturing stage to 960,000 tons, about 50% of the 1.93 million tons recorded in 2017, and realize carbon neutrality through carbon credits acquired from external carbon reduction activities.

To promote plastic reduction, the lineup of organic light-emitting diode (OLED) TVs, which use less plastic, expanded from 14 models last year to 18 models this year. Additionally, recycled plastics are used in some models such as general LCD TVs. This year alone, LG Electronics expects to recycle approximately 750 tons of waste plastic annually.

Efforts have also been made to improve customer accessibility to home appliances. In April last year, LG Electronics became the first domestic home appliance company to sign a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Korea Disabled Consumers Union to produce manuals for visually impaired consumers and added voice guidance features to the all-in-one washer-dryer 'Tromm WashTower.' Stickers with Braille are also provided so that visually impaired users can read the product control panel. The products covered will start with TVs, washing machines, refrigerators, air conditioners, and air purifiers and will gradually expand.

LG Electronics has also received excellent ratings in global ESG evaluations. Last year, it was listed for the sixth consecutive year on the 'FTSE4Good,' a socially responsible investment index jointly owned by the Financial Times and the London Stock Exchange (LSE) through FTSE International. Furthermore, it received the 'Platinum' rating, awarded to the top 1% of companies, in the 'EcoVadis' evaluation, which is widely used as a sustainability management benchmark in Europe.