Hyundai Livart has launched the first used furniture trading platform service in the domestic furniture industry as part of its ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) management efforts. The initiative aims to encourage the reuse of used furniture and contribute to resource recycling.
On the 5th, Hyundai Livart announced the opening of ‘Ogu Gagu,’ an open-type used furniture trading specialized platform that allows easy and safe transactions of used furniture that were difficult to handle due to moving or interior remodeling.
A Hyundai Livart representative explained, “About 5,000 tons of discarded furniture are thrown away annually in Korea, but the recycling rate is less than 1%, with most of the discarded furniture being landfilled or incinerated, causing serious environmental pollution. To create a sustainable resource circulation environment, we have launched the first used furniture trading platform in the domestic furniture industry.”
Ogu Gagu is set up as a shop-in-shop category within Livart Mall, Hyundai Livart’s official online mall. It is also accessible through the Ogu Gagu application. Customers who want to sell used furniture through Ogu Gagu can list furniture images or videos, desired selling prices, and shipping departure locations on the page without any separate sales commission. Customers wishing to purchase used furniture can enter the delivery location and date and pay for the product and delivery installation fees through secure payment to receive their items.
Unlike existing used trading platforms that only facilitate buying and selling of used furniture, Ogu Gagu offers a one-stop service where Hyundai Livart’s professional installation technicians handle everything from furniture disassembly to delivery and installation. This addresses the major challenges of delivery and installation in used furniture transactions. To this end, Hyundai Livart has added about 50 teams dedicated to items requiring special relocation and installation, such as built-in wardrobes and beds, in addition to its existing 300 installation teams.
Hyundai Livart expects the Ogu Gagu service to reduce annual carbon dioxide emissions by 264 tons. A company representative stated, “When 1 ton of solid waste is incinerated, 1.1 tons of carbon dioxide is emitted into the atmosphere. If a circulation system is established to reuse about 20 tons of furniture monthly instead of incinerating it, it can prevent 264 tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually.”
Hyundai Livart has been committed to eco-friendly management through carbon neutrality and wood recycling. Since 2019, Hyundai Livart has been gradually eliminating the use of Styrofoam and currently uses ‘Honeycomb,’ an eco-friendly cushioning material made from 100% recycled paper, instead of Styrofoam for furniture delivery cushioning.
Through the ‘Light Project’ to reduce wood waste, about 180 tons of leftover wood are annually made into over 5,000 eco-friendly bookshelves. Additionally, about 20% of furniture delivery vehicles have been converted to electric vehicles. Furthermore, Hyundai Livart has signed an agreement with the Korea Forest Service to create a carbon-neutral forest and plans to plant about 100,000 trees in the ‘Carbon Neutral Forest,’ which will be developed over approximately 330,000 square meters by 2025.
A Hyundai Livart representative said, “We will continue to build a sustainable virtuous cycle system and strive to fulfill our corporate social responsibility.”
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