Lotte Announces 2020 Resource Circulation Project Plan

Stepwise Implementation of '必환경' Practice Tasks Across All Group Companies

[Asia Economy Reporter Seungjin Lee] Lotte is establishing an eco-friendly system across all its group companies.

On the 19th, Lotte Group announced that it will promote three key action tasks as a group-wide resource circulation project. This project, jointly reviewed and promoted by Lotte Holdings and four business units (BUs), aims to prioritize environmental responsibility in all business areas of Lotte, minimize environmental impact, and realize the value of coexistence.

Under the slogan "必Environment! Starting from Small Changes," the focus will be on spreading empathy and willingness to practice at the field level, continuously discovering small success cases by sector. To this end, Lotte conducted an environmental indicator management level diagnosis for all affiliates, and based on the results, established eco-friendly action tasks and goals suitable for the essence of each business sector such as chemicals, distribution, and food, which can create synergy when all affiliates participate.

The three priority tasks that Lotte decided to promote first are ▲establishing a plastic circular system ▲expanding eco-friendly packaging ▲reducing food waste. Lotte plans to form consultative bodies among related affiliates for each task and set detailed five-year goals to promote them. In the long term, the group intends to apply Lotte’s unique resource circulation structure, the ‘5Re (Reduce, Replace, Redesign, Reuse, Recycle)’ model, across all fields.

◆ Expanding the share of rPET use in PET packaging products within the group to 20% = Regarding the plastic material PET, Lotte has devised a plan to establish a unique plastic circular system within the group, noting that the entire value chain of ‘raw material production ? packaging manufacturing ? product production ? distribution and sales’ exists within the group. Through this, they aim to continuously develop a circular model of ▲reducing plastic usage ▲separate collection ▲raw material recycling ▲reducing plastic waste.

First, based on the technology currently held by Lotte Chemical, rPET (PET made from recycled plastic waste) will be supplied and used as a material for various product packaging, clothing, and shoes produced by affiliates such as food companies. At the distribution and sales stages, the value of resource circulation will be promoted to encourage consumption of rPET products, and simultaneously, resource collection programs will be conducted using consumer contact points of distributors. The collected resources will then be recycled back into rPET raw materials by Lotte Chemical, creating a circular system.

As a pilot, starting from February, Lotte Chemical will lead the installation of a waste PET smart collection system at Lotte distribution stores such as Lotte World Mall and conduct a PET recycling campaign targeting consumers. Based on this, Lotte Chemical plans to explore eco-friendly upcycled product development in cooperation with social ventures. By 2025, the group aims to expand the share of rPET use in PET packaging products produced by the group to 20%.

◆ Expanding eco-friendly packaging products in distribution companies to 50% = Lotte plans to reduce unnecessary single-use items and expand environmentally friendly packaging. In particular, focusing on the fact that many disposable packaging materials are used in holiday gift sets, they will first work on changing packaging materials and designs to recyclable ones, focusing on fruit and meat sets in department stores and marts. Lotte has set a goal to expand eco-friendly packaging products in holiday gift sets of distribution companies to 50% by 2025.

Various eco-friendly packaging methods were also applied to this year’s Lunar New Year gift sets. Lotte Department Store used water as a cooling agent in ice packs for livestock and dried yellow corvina gift sets, and redesigned the cooling bags containing meat gift sets to be reusable as shopping bags or cooling bags. The dried yellow corvina gift sets used 100% recyclable paper packaging both inside and outside, including patented paper corrugated cores, and were packed in waterproof bags made from recycled paper.

◆ Reducing food waste by 30% = Lotte is promoting policies to minimize food waste generated in each business sector within the group. First, food waste will be measured by affiliate, and divided into production, processing, and distribution stages, with research conducted to develop manuals on ways to reduce food waste at each stage.

By benchmarking advanced food waste reduction activities of other companies, they will minimize waste through shortening delivery times, developing freshness improvement technologies, improving expiration date management methods, promoting discount sales and food donations. Additionally, for food classified as waste at each stage, recycling methods such as processing into fertilizer and feed will be researched to reduce food waste ultimately landfilled or incinerated.

Hwang Gak-gyu, CEO of Lotte Holdings, said, “This project is an expression of our will to fulfill environmental responsibility at every stage, tailored to Lotte’s business characteristics that accompany the consumer’s life cycle,” and added, “We will continue to propose ways to practice environmental values at the lifestyle contact points of citizens and strive to become a Lotte that positively influences society.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.