Small and Medium-Sized Electronics, Mid-Sized Appliances Compete to Earn the 'Resource Circulation' Label

Introduction of Greenhouse Gas Reduction and Reusable Packaging
Companies Obtain Individual Certifications for Activities or Products

Small and medium-sized home appliance companies are accelerating ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) management through resource circulation activities, greenhouse gas reduction, and the introduction of reusable packaging.

Cuckoo's dry grinding food waste disposer certified as an 'E-Circulation Excellent Product.' Photo by Cuckoo

Hurom announced on the 14th that it received a Circular Resource Production Certificate for electronic product resource circulation from E-Circular Governance last month, as well as a greenhouse gas reduction certificate from the Korea Scope 3 Association.

E-Circular Governance is the only domestic recycling cooperative for waste electrical and electronic equipment and a nonprofit public corporation authorized by the Ministry of Environment. The Circular Resource Production Certificate is issued to companies that convert waste into circular resources to produce new resources. Scope 3 refers to greenhouse gas emissions across the entire value chain of a company. The certification period Hurom received this time is for the year 2023, during which it produced 73,110 kg of circular resources through the collection and recycling of waste electrical and electronic products and reduced a total of 208,918 kgCO₂eq (carbon dioxide equivalent) of greenhouse gases.

Cuckoo also obtained the ‘E-Circular Excellent Product’ certification for 12 models across water purifiers and food waste disposers. This certification is granted by E-Circular Governance to products that promote resource circulation. It comprehensively evaluates recyclability and the presence of hazardous substances. Notably, five models of Cuckoo water purifiers are designed to allow disassembly down to the smallest unit parts by component and material, such as filter housing fasteners and plastic hoses, enabling precise sorting. This earned high scores in recyclability and ease of disassembly. Four models of dry grinding-type food waste disposers are designed so that all plastic parts can be separated by single material, facilitating recycling, and three models of microbial-type food waste disposers use recycled plastic for one-third of their plastic parts. The Cuckoo Homesys Zero 100 Slim Ice Water Purifier line uses 92.4% recycled plastic for the product’s exterior injection molding.

Coway developed packaging materials used for returned product collection made from reusable polypropylene. The packaging boxes have an assembly structure that reduces volume, thereby lowering emissions during transportation. Previously, single-use bubble wrap packaging was used. This packaging will be applied to product lines such as bidets, water purifiers, air purifiers, and massage chairs. The package is currently in the pilot test phase, with plans to implement it from the first half of this year.

An industry official said, “Greenhouse gas reduction and resource circulation are connected to global environmental issues and are essential processes for manufacturing companies, so companies are doing what they can at the corporate level.” He added, “Especially to enhance export competitiveness, small and medium-sized enterprises must strengthen ESG management in preparation for increasingly stringent environmental regulations in the future.”