Hyundai Green Food to Make Eco-Friendly Chairs from 'Waste Plastic Containers' at Group Meal Sites

Hyundai Green Food announced on the 1st that it will launch an upcycling project called 'Greeting Plus' to recycle plastic containers.

[Asia Economy Reporter Seungjin Lee] Hyundai Green Food is taking steps to reduce the amount of plastic waste. As discarded plastic food containers have surged, becoming a social issue, the company has decided to upcycle the plastic containers used in group catering operations into eco-friendly goods such as storage chairs.

Hyundai Green Food, a comprehensive food company affiliated with Hyundai Department Store Group, announced on the 1st that it will launch an upcycling project called "Greeting Plus," which recycles plastic containers from its group catering care food brand "Greeting Office."

"Greeting Office" is the first care food brand in Korea specializing in group catering, providing employees who use the staff cafeteria with specialized healthy meal plans such as low-sugar and diet menus alongside regular dishes.

The "Greeting Plus" project involves Hyundai Green Food independently washing and drying the plastic containers discarded after meals at Greeting Office to make them recyclable, then producing eco-friendly products through upcycling. The collected plastic waste is shredded and molded by social enterprises to create eco-friendly chairs.

A Hyundai Green Food official stated, "With the operation of 'Greeting Plus,' about 30,000 plastic containers will not be discarded annually, reducing approximately 2 tons of carbon dioxide emissions each year." This is equivalent to planting 333 30-year-old pine trees.

Prior to this, Hyundai Green Food piloted the "Greeting Plus" project in April at 15 group catering sites nationwide. Approximately 10,000 plastic containers were collected, and around 800 eco-friendly storage chairs were produced.

In addition, Hyundai Green Food is making various efforts to reduce carbon emissions in group catering operations. First, it provides a "low-carbon menu" focused on vegetarian dishes twice a month at about 500 group catering sites nationwide. The low-carbon menu consists of plant-based foods such as fruits and vegetables, reducing greenhouse gas emissions by up to 80% compared to animal-based diets.

Furthermore, the use of ingredients certified as "low-carbon" is being expanded in group catering operations. Since June last year, all 3,000 tons of onions used annually in group catering have been replaced with low-carbon certified onions, and through discovering farms, more than 10 additional low-carbon certified agricultural products such as cucumbers, radishes, and cabbage are planned to be introduced this year.