"Eco-Friendly Efforts" Hyundai Livart "Reduced 6.8 Tons of Styrofoam in 7 Months"

Hyundai Livart Yongin Headquarters exterior. Photo by Hyundai Livart

[Asia Economy Reporter Moon Hyewon]Hyundai Livart announced on the 24th that through its ‘Zero Use of Styrofoam (synthetic resin) campaign,’ it has reduced Styrofoam packaging waste by 230,000 pieces (approximately 6.8 tons) over seven months since July last year. This amount is equivalent to the Styrofoam waste generated by 7,240 Seoul citizens in one year.

Hyundai Livart had been using Styrofoam as cushioning material to protect product corners or fill empty spaces during the delivery of some furniture items such as kitchen furniture and built-in wardrobes. However, as environmental pollution caused by excessive use of disposable products has become a social issue, the company started producing and using eco-friendly cushioning material called ‘Honeycomb,’ made from 100% recycled paper, since July last year to replace Styrofoam.

Over the past seven months, Hyundai Livart has used a total of 400,000 Honeycomb cushioning materials, and it is expected to use 700,000 Honeycombs annually next year. A Hyundai Livart official stated, “The amount of Styrofoam reduced next year is estimated to reach 500,000 pieces (approximately 16 tons),” and added, “We have established a ‘Circular Economy’ model by not only using Honeycomb but also collecting Honeycomb cushioning materials used in furniture delivery, reusing those in good condition, and recycling damaged cushioning materials.”

In 2014, Hyundai Livart became the first in the domestic furniture industry to declare ‘Zero Harmful Substance Management’ by applying only eco-friendly E0 boards to all B2C furniture products. The amount of E0 boards used by Hyundai Livart last year reached 180,000 ㎥, more than double the 85,000 ㎥ used in 2014.

Since establishing the ‘Environmental Technology Center’ in 1995?the first specialized organization in the domestic furniture industry for eco-friendly product verification and durability testing?Hyundai Livart has independently developed 74 types of eco-friendly adhesives, paints, and other materials, applying them to major products. Recently, the company has been recognized for producing top-level eco-friendly furniture products by applying and operating guidelines up to four times stricter than national evaluation standards (for furniture product manufacturing), and it became the first in the industry to receive the ‘Industrial Medal’ from the government for its achievements.

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