Amorepacific Group Collects 2,200 Tons of Empty Bottles Over 18 Years... Leading ESG Management

[Asia Economy Reporter Seungjin Lee] Amorepacific Group announced on the 18th that since launching the ‘Innisfree Empty Bottle Collection Campaign’ in 2003, it has collected 2,200 tons (t) of cosmetic empty bottles nationwide at Amorepacific Group stores through 2020, with a cumulative participation of 14 million people.

The collected cosmetic empty bottles have been reborn through various methods such as recycling or upcycling into creative artworks via the eco-friendly social contribution campaign ‘Green Cycle’.

Amorepacific, the first in the industry to succeed in producing plastic cosmetic bottle recycling ‘Terrazo’ (made by mixing crushed cosmetic bottles with ultra-high-strength concrete), used this technique to create upcycled benches. The first bench was installed at Cheollipo Arboretum in August 2020, and in December, eight upcycled benches made in collaboration with SAMPYO Group and others were delivered to Jongno-gu Office in Seoul. They plan to donate and install benches at various locations over the next three years.

The ‘1652 Summers’ exhibited at ‘Drawing City S#5 Waypoint: Seoul’ held at Sejong Center for the Performing Arts in October 2020 is a representative example of upcycled artwork. It is an audience-participatory interactive media art piece created using 1,652 empty bottles returned by customers to Amorepacific Group stores.

Green Cycle activities can be found not only in artworks but also in products and store interiors. The internal support of Amorepacific’s 2020 comprehensive gift set ‘Dodam No. 9’ was made using about 1.3 tons of recycled empty bottle materials. This is the first domestic case of producing pellets from plastic bottles and using them as raw materials for product supports.

Innisfree is also leading the way in recycling empty bottles collected at stores. ‘Forest for Men Hair Wax’ replaced 30% of its container with recycled plastic bottle materials. Additionally, 10% of the cap and shoulder of the ‘Green Tea Seed Serum Paper Bottle’ were made using recycled materials.

Plastic cosmetic bottles have also been transformed into store flooring and fixtures. They were applied to the flooring and fixture tops of Amorepacific stores at Lotte Duty Free COEX branch and Hyundai Duty Free Trade Center branch.

Amorepacific Group signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) in January 2021 with global environmental company TerraCycle and GS Caltex to recycle 100 tons of plastic bottles annually and apply them to Amorepacific products and fixtures. The application rate is planned to reach 20% this year and 50% by 2025.

Hee-bok Lee, Executive Director of Amorepacific Communication Unit, said, “Amorepacific is practicing ESG (environment, social, governance) management and leading the industry through the Green Cycle campaign,” adding, “We will continue to explore creative ways to recycle resources and take the lead in solving plastic issues.”

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