[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Koo Dae-sun] Youngpoong, a global company in the non-ferrous metals industry, received the Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy Award at the 29th Corporate Innovation Awards ceremony held on the 8th at the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Jung-gu, Seoul.
The Corporate Innovation Awards, jointly hosted by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry, recognize companies with outstanding management innovation achievements.
Since last year, ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) management indicators have been added to the evaluation criteria to assess companies' social responsibility and sustainable management performance.
This year, Youngpoong received a comprehensive B grade in the ESG evaluation by the Korea ESG Standards Institute, an improvement of one grade from the previous year, thereby gaining external recognition for its management innovation and ESG achievements consecutively.
Since 1970, Youngpoong has operated the Seokpo Smelter in Bonghwa-gun, Gyeongbuk Province, which has the world's third-largest zinc production capacity (400,000 tons annually as of 2021) as a single plant, serving as the foundation for South Korea's non-ferrous metals industry to leap into a globally competitive industry.
Youngpoong was highly evaluated for establishing and promoting a comprehensive environmental investment plan worth 700 billion KRW by 2025 with the goal of "zero pollution" to realize "coexistence of environment and business."
In particular, in 2021, Youngpoong was selected as an excellent case of management innovation and ESG for introducing the world's first smelter facility that reuses 100% of process water without discharging a single drop externally, reusing an average of 1,500 tons and up to 2,000 tons of wastewater daily, contributing to environmental protection and water resource conservation.
Youngpoong CEO Park Young-min said, "We will secure innovative new growth engines by utilizing world-class smelting technology and practice ESG management that fulfills environmental and social responsibilities," adding, "We will pioneer a new path where environment and industry coexist and become a global leading eco-friendly non-ferrous metals company."
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