HK Innoen Takes Action for 'Plastic Zero' by Reducing Disposable Cups

[Asia Economy Reporter Chunhee Lee] HK Innoen announced on the 6th, which is 'Resource Circulation Day,' as part of its ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) management activities, that it will launch an eco-friendly campaign called 'U GREEN?' aimed at eliminating disposable cups in the company cafe.

U GREEN? is HK Innoen's eco-friendly campaign slogan that uses the expression 'Green,' which implies environmentally friendly actions, meaning 'Will you also join eco-friendly actions?' It was prepared to create an eco-friendly culture within the company, encourage employees to easily participate in environmental protection in their daily lives, and provide an opportunity to proactively recognize and internalize ESG management.

The U GREEN? campaign will be implemented gradually in three stages to participate in eliminating disposable products, starting with small actions that can be practiced immediately. First, cup washers (rinser) were installed on each floor to conveniently wash tumblers within the company. In October, as the second stage, reusable cups will be fully introduced in the company cafe to encourage the use of tumblers and reduce disposable cups. The third stage will expand the campaign from 'disposable cups' to reducing 'disposable products,' promoting the replacement of other disposable items in the cafe with reusable products.

HK Innoen plans to expand the U GREEN? campaign to other workplaces after starting at the Seoul office. The goal is to encourage all employees to use tumblers or reusable cups, achieve 'zero disposable cups,' and ultimately create an eco-friendly corporate culture.

The reusable cups introduced in the company cafe for this campaign are made of polypropylene, an eco-friendly material, and are 100% recyclable. When used reusable cups are returned to an unmanned return machine, they undergo a total of seven stages of safe cleaning processes before being reused.

An HK Innoen social contribution officer said, “About 500 disposable cups are used daily in the company cafe, and through this U GREEN? campaign, we will be able to reduce a total of 120,000 disposable cups annually,” adding, “This is equivalent to planting 1,726 pine trees and is expected to reduce carbon emissions by about 4 tons per year.”