HiteJinro, '2-Year Carbon Reduction of 4,020 Tons' Eco-Friendly Management

High-efficiency Wastewater Treatment Facility 'Anaerobic Digester' at HiteJinro Gangwon Plant

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Hye-seon] Hite Jinro is playing a role as an eco-friendly business site.

Under the banner of eco-friendly management, Hite Jinro has focused on "cleanliness" as a core keyword from the product manufacturing stage, inspecting business sites, introducing wastewater treatment facilities, and installing high-efficiency boilers, evolving step by step.

As part of its eco-friendly production activities, Hite Jinro replaced the wastewater treatment facilities in its factories with environmentally friendly anaerobic digesters, achieving a reduction of approximately 4,020 tons of carbon dioxide at its Gangwon plant over the past two years alone. According to a report published by the Korea Forest Service and the National Institute of Forest Science, the reduction of 4,020 tons of carbon dioxide is equivalent to the amount of carbon absorbed in one year by a pine forest planted over approximately 1.12 million pyeong (the size of 150 soccer fields).

The anaerobic digester is an eco-friendly wastewater treatment system that purifies byproducts and wastewater generated during beer production using microorganisms, and reuses the biogas produced in the process as fuel for boilers, creating a virtuous cycle of resources. Since it uses microorganisms, know-how in stable operation through microorganism management is required.

Hite Jinro began environmentally conscious production activities in 1992 by installing digesters for wastewater treatment at its beer factory. Since then, it has continuously upgraded its facilities through bold investments to improve wastewater treatment capacity. Notably, in 2009, it introduced the anaerobic digester at its Jeonju plant for the first time in the beer industry, improving wastewater treatment efficiency by more than 60% annually.

Accelerating its transformation into an eco-friendly business site, Hite Jinro introduced a large-scale anaerobic digester facility at its Gangwon plant in 2019. Based on the know-how of the Jeonju plant, the Gangwon plant, equipped with a stable operation system, achieved the following results over the past two years: ▲ wastewater treatment efficiency improved from 55% to 87%, ▲ waste generated decreased by more than 40%, and ▲ biogas production during the purification process increased more than threefold.

In particular, by reusing biogas, a form of renewable energy, the plant significantly reduced greenhouse gas emissions by lowering the use of existing LNG.

Additionally, as a result of thoroughly managing the microorganisms, which are key to operating the anaerobic digester, Hite Jinro succeeded in cultivating high-quality microorganisms. The company supplies and sells these to business sites in need, helping to establish a stable eco-friendly wastewater treatment environment. The Jeonju plant sold 2,700 tons of microorganisms over six years, and the Gangwon plant sold 400 tons this year alone.