Orion Wins Presidential Gold Award for Three Consecutive Years at National Quality Control Circle Competition

Iksan Plant Highly Praised for Efforts to Reduce Greenhouse Gas Intensity in Carbon Neutrality Sector
Annual Carbon Emissions Expected to Decrease by 1,500 Tons

[Asia Economy Reporter Eunmo Koo] Orion announced on the 14th that it has won the highest award, the President's Award Gold Prize, for three consecutive years at the ‘48th National Quality Control Circle Competition’.

The National Quality Control Circle Competition is held annually with the purpose of sharing workers' on-site improvement cases and establishing a foundation for quality innovation. This year, it was co-hosted by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, Gyeongsangbuk-do, and Gyeongju City, and organized by the Korea Standards Association, running from August 29 to the 2nd of last month. A total of 266 quality control circles selected through regional preliminaries participated in the heated competition.

Orion Iksan Plant’s ‘Strong Orion’ quality control circle was honored with the President's Award Gold Prize in the carbon neutrality category for its contribution to reducing the ‘greenhouse gas intensity’ through improvements in confectionery production facilities. In particular, they established an outdoor air supply facility for the molding room of the chewing candy product ‘Beatles’ and improved the warehouse freezer for storing frozen potatoes, the main ingredient of products like ‘Nun-eul Gamja’, achieving reductions in greenhouse gas intensity by 10.34% and 7.69%, respectively. Including these, Orion Iksan Plant improved a total of nine facilities and expects to reduce annual carbon emissions by 1,500 tons compared to before.

Orion is recognized for its achievements across various fields while conducting eco-friendly activities based on the group’s management policy of ethical management. Last year, both the Cheongju and Iksan plants were selected as target sites for the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs’ ‘Greenhouse Gas Reduction Support Project’. The Cheongju Plant’s ‘Only Orion’ quality control circle was recognized for greenhouse gas reduction achievements through improvements in snack manufacturing process facilities and won the President's Award Gold Prize at the National Quality Control Circle Competition for two consecutive years. Additionally, Orion became the first in the domestic food industry to complete third-party verification by the Korea Standards Association for greenhouse gas emissions of its domestic and overseas corporate sites, meeting international standards.

Starting this year, Orion operates a ‘Global Carbon Emission Integrated Management System’ that measures and monitors key data such as greenhouse gas emissions of domestic and overseas corporations in real time. The Cheongju and Iksan plants were respectively selected as target sites for the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs’ ‘Energy Management System Establishment Support Project’ and ‘Carbon Neutral Facility Support Project’. Overseas, the Vietnam corporation Yen Phong Plant introduced the renewable energy source ‘biomass’, and the China corporation Shanghai Plant operates solar power generation, actively promoting global eco-friendly activities.