Hyundai Home Shopping Introduces 100% Recycled Paper Tape

Industry's First Application of Eco-Friendly Paper Tape for Product Packaging

Hyundai Home Shopping is the first in the industry to introduce eco-friendly paper tape that is 100% recyclable. With the surge in delivery usage due to the activation of non-face-to-face transactions, paper tape has gained attention as a substitute for vinyl tape. However, existing paper tapes were classified as general waste because their adhesives do not dissolve in water, making recycling impossible.

On the 28th, Hyundai Home Shopping announced that it will first introduce eco-friendly paper tape certified by the Ministry of Environment for packaging 1 million products of Hyundai Home Shopping’s own fashion brands (PB) such as ‘Laciento’ and exclusive sales brands. In the second half of this year, the company is also considering gradually expanding the use of this tape to cover the entire annual delivery volume of about 20 million packages.

The tape introduced by Hyundai Home Shopping this time uses a water-soluble adhesive. It is the only paper tape on the market that is 100% recyclable and has received eco-friendly certification from the Ministry of Environment. Since it can be disposed of as paper without needing to be removed from the delivery box, it is expected to enhance customer convenience.

Im Tae-yoon, Executive Director of Customer Satisfaction at Hyundai Home Shopping, said, “If the tape used for packaging Hyundai Home Shopping’s annual volume were connected, it would reach 16,200 km,” adding, “When fully introduced in the future, general tape waste covering an area equivalent to eight soccer fields will disappear.”

Hyundai Home Shopping has been steadily carrying out eco-friendly related projects as part of the ‘Re.Green’ and ‘We.Dream’ integrated ESG (Environment, Social, Governance) brand strategy of Hyundai Department Store Group. Previously, it launched the first campaign in the distribution industry to recycle ice packs and received the Presidential Citation in the low-carbon lifestyle practice category at the 2019 ‘Promotion of Eco-friendly Technology and Consumption’ government awards. Recently, it also started a global campaign to collect unwanted clothes from customers, sort and wash them, and donate them to Tanzania, Africa.