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Hand placing a plastic bottle into a blue and green recycling bin.

Saving the planet
one carton
at a time

Our company
culture
is helping
the Earth

Empty, clean
Close-up of person wearing flannel shirt and carrying multiple plastic bottles. Close-up of plastic bottle seen slightly damaged. Recycling logo against a green background.
and separate

Empty, clean
Close-up of person wearing flannel shirt and carrying multiple plastic bottles.
and separate
Close-up of plastic bottle seen slightly damaged. Recycling logo against a green background.

Top view of three people on their hands and knees on a field picking up plastic bottles and trash.

China’s ban on importing solid waste in 2018 restricted garbage disposal methods and increased the costs of disposal, creating a waste crisis. In response, Korea’s Ministry of Environment implemented comprehensive measures for recycling and waste management. These policies are planned to increase the recycling rate to 70% and reduce plastic waste to 50% to resolve the underlying waste problem.

We began our “Empty, clean, and separate” campaign to correspond with government policy, quickly joining the movement to stop using disposable products and improve the office recycling system. Each of us in Korea did our part – about 57,000 of us. Keep reading to see how we put this campaign into action.

We contribute
to those in need
by turning milk cartons
into tissues.

Infographic showing how milk cartons are turned into tissues. Carton illustration. 1. Cartons are rinsed and dried. Pulp illustration. 2. They undergo the pulping process. Toilet paper illustration. 3. This produces paper fiber. Toilet paper and tissue box illustration. 4. It's turned into tissues or toilet paper.
  • 1

    Cartons are
    rinsed and dried

  • 2

    They undergo the
    pulping process

  • 3

    This produces
    paper fiber

  • 4

    It’s turned into tissues
    or toilet paper!

We thought about how we can not only reduce waste but also reuse it in a productive way. Our idea was to collect all the milk cartons on-site and turn them into something new.

By thoroughly separating and pulping milk cartons, we were able to bring them back to life as tissues and toilet paper. Since 2018, we have partnered with Yongin City Hall to give out these tissues to those in need in the
community.

Making waste
Plastic bottle seen from the front ripping through cardboard. Green recycling bin seen from the front against a red wall. Close-up of five plastic bottles seen underwater with a green tint.
less wasteful

Making waste
Plastic bottle seen from the front ripping through cardboard. Green recycling bin seen from the front against a red wall.
less wasteful
Close-up of five plastic bottles seen underwater with a green tint.

Close-up of a child holding a sprout in dirt. An adult's hands are cupping the child's hands.

Samsung continues to strive toward
establishing a better, more effective recycling culture. As we think about the ways to recycle and reuse waste, we will continue to do our best to save the planet in our own way.

  • Even we were surprised
    by the results of our
    “Empty,
    clean and separate”
    campaign.

    Recycling symbol illustration. 7.2 tons. Avg. increase in recycling each month. Plastic fork and knife illustration. 1.2 tons. Avg. decrease in plastic and vinyl use in restaurants per day. Building illustration. 0.15 tons. Avg. decrease in plastic use in stores per day. Trash can illustration. 1.2 tons. Avg. decrease in waste per day
    • 0.15 tons

      Avg. decrease in
      plastic use in
      stores
      per day

    • 1.2 tons

      Avg. decrease in
      plastic
      and vinyl use in
      restaurants per day

    • 1.2 tons

      Avg. decrease in
      waste per day

    • 7.2 tons

      Avg. increase in
      recycling each
      month

    Reducing daily waste by 1.2 tons

    After starting our internal campaign, we saw how our actions made a huge difference: a 7.2-ton increase in monthly recycling, a 1.2-ton reduction in daily plastic and vinyl use in on-site restaurants and a 0.15-ton reduction in daily plastic use in on-site stores — we even reduced our daily waste by 1.2 tons!

    Seeing these results motivated us to take our campaign even further, so we expanded our recycling system to ten categories in April 2021 and overall strive to recycle more, use less plastic and vinyl and create less waste.

  • Samsung changed
    the type and
    location of the
    recycling bins.

    From 6 types of recycling to 10

    With the start of our “Empty, clean and separate” campaign, we changed the recycling bins and their location, replacing around 300 bins under the supervision of our Safety & Environment Team. In April 2021, we also expanded the recycling separation system from six categories to ten: PET bottles, plastic, vinyl, paper, cartons, cans, glass, coffee capsules, food waste and non-recyclables. The system is not only thorough, but also requires employees to remove the lid and labels before cleaning and separating.

    • Recycling symbol illustration. 7.2 tons. Avg. increase in recycling each month. Plastic fork and knife illustration. 1.2 tons. Avg. decrease in plastic and vinyl use in restaurants per day. Building illustration. 0.15 tons. Avg. decrease in plastic use in stores per day. Trash can illustration. 1.2 tons. Avg. decrease in waste per day PET bottles

      Labels and lids are
      separated, and the
      bottles are thoroughly
      cleaned.

    • Paper

      This is emptied and
      rinsed.
      Does not
      include security paper.

    • Cans

      These are emptied
      completely.

    • Vinyl

      This is emptied
      completely.

    • Non-
      recyclables

    • Glass

      The lids are separated,
      and the containers are
      emptied
      completely.

    • Plastic

      The labels and stickers
      are separated, and the
      plastic is thoroughly
      cleaned.

    • Cartons

      The lids are separated,
      and the cartons are
      thoroughly
      cleaned.

    • Coffee capsules

      Does not include
      plastic capsules.

    • Food waste

      Does not include
      egg shells.

    Each one of us properly separating helps turn waste into resources. PET bottles transform into clothing fibers, paper becomes recycled paper, vinyl is turned into fuel and coffee capsules are reborn as aluminum products and even fertilizer.

    This improved our company-wide recycling culture, as the “Empty, clean and separate” slogan became an established rule and was implemented across 11 sites in Korea for about 57,000 participating employees.

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