CJ Freshway Collects Cafeteria Dividers for Recycling... "Upcycling into Phone Cases and More"

Establishing a Resource Circulation Cooperation System with Korea Environment Corporation, Using Collected Barrier Materials for Plastic Production

[Asia Economy Reporter Eunmo Koo] CJ Freshway is embarking on the recycling of plastic partitions that were used for quarantine measures.

On the 30th, CJ Freshway announced plans to collect discarded plastic partitions, which have been increasingly thrown away due to decreased durability after being used in group catering facilities, and utilize them in resource circulation projects.

On the 28th, CJ Freshway held a business agreement ceremony at the Western Environmental Headquarters of the Korea Environment Corporation in Gangseo-gu, Seoul, with the Korea Environment Corporation, Korea Plastic Single Material Association, and Korea Cleaning Association to establish a pilot project for the collection and recycling system of plastic partitions, sharing mutual roles. The following day, collection work for partition waste was carried out at two catering sites in Seoul where CJ Freshway operates catering services on consignment.

Plastic partitions are made from various materials such as polycarbonate, PET, and acrylic, but due to the lack of a separate classification system, they are indiscriminately mixed and disposed of by incineration. This not only causes environmental pollution due to carbon emissions but is also considered a waste of high-quality raw materials that could be recycled. Partitions made from high-quality plastic materials can be transformed into various products such as phone cases, product display stands, signboards, and building materials through appropriate processing and reused. According to the Korea Environment Corporation, this pilot project is expected to reduce approximately 5,500 tons of carbon dioxide emissions, equivalent to planting about 987,000 trees.

The core of this project is to establish an organic resource circulation system through collaboration between companies and institutions, including proper collection, transportation, sorting, and recycling of waste. CJ Freshway guides group catering stores nationwide on how to separate and dispose of discarded partitions, while the Korea Cleaning Association assists in the waste collection process. After sorting, recyclable materials are selected and processed into high-quality raw materials through recycling processes by the Plastic Single Material Association. The Korea Environment Corporation oversees the overall operation of the cooperative system among each entity and local governments and leads project promotion.

A CJ Freshway official stated, “Accumulating cases of environmental protection activities is both a commitment to fulfilling corporate social responsibility and a movement to realize the value of sustainable distribution, which is the goal of ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) management.” He added, “We will continue to do our best to support wherever corporate capabilities are needed.”