Hyundai Mobis Hosts ESG Ideathon: "Using Car Scrap Parts to Contribute to Environment and Society"

Hyundai Mobis announced on the 10th that it held the "1st ESG Ideathon Competition." The photo shows the main event held at the Hi Seoul Youth Hostel.
Photo by Hyundai Mobis

[Asia Economy Reporter Yoo Hyun-seok] Hyundai Mobis announced on the 10th that it held the '1st ESG Ideathon' competition under the theme of 'Resource Circulation and Social Contribution Methods for Automotive Waste Parts,' with the participation of 50 university students and 10 employee mentors.

The 50 university students selected nationwide through recruitment were divided into 10 teams and conducted group projects and final presentations over three weeks. Ten Hyundai Mobis employees participated as mentors for each team, assisting in the process of concretizing the team members' ideas. The competition was held at the Hi Seoul Youth Hostel in Seoul. Awards were also given for outstanding ideas through the final evaluation.

From an ESG perspective, utilizing vehicle waste parts was a challenging topic for university students. Nevertheless, participants collaborated to conduct research and field investigations, as well as interviews with stakeholders, presenting innovative ideas. Lee Kwon (27), a university student who participated in this competition, said, "The process of staying up all night discussing environmental and social topics with my team members and realizing our ideas was a very meaningful experience."

Despite the difficult topic, original ideas from the university students poured out. A representative idea was to improve facility accessibility for transportation-vulnerable groups by installing ramps using discarded panels. This idea accurately identified the reality that ramps are not properly installed in small neighborhood facilities such as shopping areas, causing inconvenience for people with disabilities and other transportation-vulnerable groups through field surveys, and received high praise by proposing specific ramp construction plans.

Another notable idea was to use discarded vehicle parts such as mufflers and airbags to create camping products like wood stove chimneys and tents for car camping. This idea considered the aspect of contributing to resource circulation by reprocessing discarded parts into products frequently used by camping enthusiasts.

Lee Hyun-bok, head of Hyundai Mobis ESG Promotion Office, said, "We thank the university students who presented good solutions on a challenging topic," and emphasized, "The experience of carrying out team projects on ESG is expected to be very helpful for future job preparation and work life."

Meanwhile, this ESG Ideathon competition was conducted as part of Dream Move, one of Hyundai Mobis's six major social contribution programs. Dream Move is a social contribution activity aimed at improving the quality of life for future generations, including talent development. Hyundai Mobis plans to continuously discover external participation social contribution programs for students and the general public to provide opportunities to various stakeholders.