Dongwon Industries Holds 'International Coastal Cleanup Day' Event

Employees of Dongwon Industries participating in the 'International Coastal Cleanup Day' event are taking a commemorative photo.

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Hye-seon] Dongwon Industries announced on the 30th that it conducted the ‘International Coastal Cleanup Day’ event this month as part of its ESG management efforts to preserve marine ecosystems and maintain a clean local community environment.

The ‘International Coastal Cleanup Day’ event was planned to achieve the marine plastic reduction goals agreed upon by ‘SeaBOS’ member companies last October. ‘SeaBOS’ is a forum where global seafood companies discuss sustainable fisheries, and Dongwon Industries is the only Korean corporate member actively participating.

According to the agreement, ‘SeaBOS’ member companies regularly hold cleanup day events to reduce marine plastic waste and share the results at presentations. The types and amounts of marine plastics collected by member companies are registered in real-time on the ‘SeaBOS’ shared application and managed as data, based on which outstanding member activities will be selected in the future.

Dongwon Industries’ ‘International Coastal Cleanup Day’ events were held over two days on the 14th and 29th of this month. On the 14th, employees of Dongwon Industries’ Busan branch formed teams of four and collected various marine plastic wastes and household trash washed ashore at three coastal areas in Busan: Gamcheon Port, Songdo Beach, and Amnam Park. Notably, at Songdo Beach, marine staff personally wore scuba gear and retrieved trash sunk in the nearby sea, actively engaging in marine environmental improvement.

Environmental improvement activities near business sites for the local community were also conducted. On the 29th, employees at Dongwon Industries’ headquarters collected trash around the Yangjaecheon area in Seoul. Yangjaecheon is an ecological stream located right in front of Dongwon Group’s headquarters and is a popular resting place for both Dongwon Group employees and local residents. Dongwon Industries regularly carries out various environmental improvement activities for the community, such as planting flower seedlings along the Yangjaecheon embankment and improving water quality in Banpo Stream by throwing EM (Effective Microorganisms) soil balls.

In addition, logistics centers and regional business sites across the country also collected trash around their premises, and Dongwon Industries’ overseas affiliates plan to hold cleanup day events in the second half of this year.

Marine plastic waste not only destroys marine ecosystems but also harms humans through the food chain, raising global awareness of the issue. According to the Korea Maritime Institute, over 5 trillion pieces of plastic are floating in the world’s marine ecosystems. In response, the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries announced earlier this year a policy to reduce domestic marine plastic waste by 50% by 2030 and to achieve zero waste by 2050.

Earlier, Dongwon Industries announced a ‘Three-Year Plastic Reduction Plan’ last year and has been actively working to reduce marine plastic waste. Unusually for a seafood company, it established the position of ‘Total Plastic Officer (TPO)’ to lead company-wide plastic reduction campaigns. Dongwon Industries has replaced fish aggregating devices (FADs) used in fishing from conventional plastic materials to biodegradable wooden and natural fiber bio FADs, and switched all seafood cooling materials, such as ice packs, to eco-friendly ice packs made from 100% water and biodegradable materials. Recently, the company has also been exploring ways to recycle plastic waste from discarded fishing nets into automobile parts, promoting not only plastic reduction but also various plastic recycling initiatives.

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