POSCO Gwangyang Steelworks Engages in Eco-Friendly Management Activities

Low-Carbon Competitiveness, Realizing '100-Year Company POSCO'

Introducing ESG Management to Achieve Sustainable Growth

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Heo Seonsik] POSCO Gwangyang Steelworks announced that it is implementing ESG management and carrying out eco-friendly management activities to achieve sustainable growth.

Recently, global interest in 'ESG management' related to corporate responsibility for Environmental, Social, and sound Governance has been increasing worldwide.

Stakeholders such as investors and clients are strengthening ESG-related demands, and as the impact of ESG-related activity performance on corporate management results and value evaluation expands, more companies are adopting ESG management to achieve sustainable growth.

◇ ESG Management and POSCO's 'Corporate Citizenship Management Philosophy'

POSCO was already internally prepared to become an excellent ESG company. This is because the 'Corporate Citizenship' management philosophy declared by POSCO Group Chairman Choi Jeong-woo upon his inauguration in July 2018 and the Corporate Citizenship Charter proclaimed the following year have shared the era's calling of 'ESG management' with employees.

Corporate citizenship is a concept that grants a corporation the personality of a citizen, meaning that in addition to the traditional economic role of a company, it also performs roles for social development.

Ultimately, POSCO's corporate citizenship management philosophy, which aims to contribute to human prosperity and a better world through efforts to solve social problems, perfectly aligns with the corporate responsibility for environment and society pursued in ESG management.

◇ POSCO Leading a Low-Carbon Society through 『2050 Carbon Neutrality』

In December 2020, POSCO declared its goal to achieve 'Carbon Neutrality' by 2050. It was the first Asian steelmaker based on large blast furnace production systems in Korea, China, and Japan to officially announce a carbon neutrality plan, which was evaluated as a very challenging goal.

POSCO plans to turn carbon risks into opportunities during the global transition to a low-carbon economy and take the lead in creating a sustainable world as a corporate citizen by achieving carbon neutrality. It aims to make 'low-carbon competitiveness' a key milestone for realizing 'POSCO, a 100-year company.'

Chairman Choi Jeong-woo emphasized in this year's New Year's address, "By leading ESG management at the group level, we will further devote ourselves to creating social value pursued by corporate citizenship."

Accordingly, POSCO is strengthening ESG management to ensure that the 'Corporate Citizenship for Shared Growth' philosophy is established in all fields, and beyond the corporate role for carbon neutrality, it is inducing small daily changes together with internal and external stakeholders as a corporate citizen.

◇ POSCO Initiates Meaningful Changes Toward Carbon Neutrality through Small Daily Practices

Since 2021, POSCO has been habituating all employees to reduce CO₂ emissions in daily life by using tumblers made of STS materials through the 『Reduce CO₂, Save Tomorrow Project』.

Introducing ESG management to achieve sustainable growth

▲ Eco-friendly tumblers distributed to all employees by POSCO to promote CO2 reduction in daily life

In January 2021, POSCO provided stainless steel tumblers to all employees to actively participate in reducing carbon dioxide by minimizing the use of disposable products in daily life.

According to the National Institute of Forest Science, a 30-year-old pine tree absorbs 6.6 kg of carbon dioxide annually. Using one disposable plastic cup daily for a year generates about 19 kg of carbon dioxide, showing that the environmental value of the small act of using a tumbler instead of a disposable cup is not insignificant.

◇ Carbon Neutrality Efforts at Gwangyang Steelworks Involving Both Company and Employees

Just as POSCO is expanding ESG management based on the corporate citizenship philosophy in all work and daily life, Gwangyang Steelworks is also practicing carbon neutrality activities and eco-friendly management in various ways.

▶ POSCO Gwangyang Steelworks Creates an Eco-Friendly Gwangyang Bay Area through Recycling Waste PET Bottles

On August 31 last year, Gwangyang Steelworks signed a business agreement with Yeosu Gwangyang Port Authority and Hyosung TNC Co., Ltd. to launch a resource circulation project in the Gwangyang Bay area. They decided to recycle waste PET bottles generated at the steelworks to produce upcycled Coolmax T-shirt work uniforms.

This agreement was promoted to create a sustainable marine environment in the Gwangyang Bay area by turning waste PET bottles generated at industrial sites and ships in Gwangyang into eco-friendly products.

Gwangyang Steelworks established a transparent PET bottle separation and collection system to recycle 100% of waste PET bottles discharged from the steelworks. The collected waste PET bottles are delivered to Hyosung TNC, where they are reborn as recycled yarn and fabric used to produce upcycled Coolmax T-shirt work uniforms for Gwangyang Steelworks.

Gwangyang Steelworks, which requires about 6,000 work uniform T-shirts annually, will be able to meet this demand with upcycled Coolmax T-shirt uniforms produced through this upcycling process, taking a step closer to realizing the '2050 Carbon Neutral Steelworks' in daily life.

At that time, Kim Ji-yong, head of POSCO Safety and Environment Headquarters and then director of Gwangyang Steelworks, said, "With this agreement, we will practice ESG management in the Gwangyang Bay area and lead carbon neutrality in daily life through Green with POSCO."

▶ Gwangyang Steelworks Spreads Carbon Neutral Culture through the 'Courageous Lunchbox' Project

The carbon neutrality activities in daily life at Gwangyang Steelworks do not end here. Gwangyang Steelworks is actively practicing ESG management by expanding the 'Courageous Lunchbox Project,' which converts company lunchbox containers to reusable ones.

The 'Courageous Lunchbox Project' is a project where employees muster the courage (勇氣) to use reusable (容器) lunchboxes instead of disposable ones, despite the convenience of disposables.

Inspired by the 'Yongginae Challenge' aimed at reducing unnecessary waste from food packaging, Gwangyang Steelworks decided to promote the 'Courageous Lunchbox Project' and replaced the previously disposable night lunchboxes with stainless steel reusable containers to reduce disposable waste.

In particular, to allow convenient use of reusable lunchboxes as before, two joint labor-management product evaluation meetings were held, and reflecting employees' vivid feedback, customized dedicated containers for three types of meals?Korean, well-being, and convenience foods?were developed in collaboration with client company CNT Korea, attracting attention.

The lunchbox containers were made from stainless steel produced by POSCO, adding more significance. Steel has a recycling rate of 85%, higher than aluminum and plastic, and emits relatively low carbon emissions of 0.71 tons during recycling, making it an eco-friendly material.

Since January this year, Gwangyang Steelworks has conducted a three-month pilot operation of stainless steel lunchbox container use at 44 locations, including the steelmaking, plating, and cold rolling departments.

Employees expressed their participation impressions in the 'Courageous Lunchbox Project,' saying, "I want to contribute to meaningful practice," and "I hope Gwangyang Steelworks will become a leader in carbon neutrality by gradually reducing disposable products within the steelworks, starting with lunchboxes."

Gwangyang Steelworks plans to collect feedback from the pilot operation, improve identified issues, and expand the project to 18 locations, including the steelmaking department, from April 1, gradually increasing the number of sites adopting the Courageous Lunchbox.

◇ Talent Volunteer Groups Sharing Skills Practice Sustainable Coexistence with the Local Community through Eco-Friendly Activities

As a member of the local community, Gwangyang Steelworks has carried out various sharing activities that pursue coexistence with the community and lead sustainable change beyond simple one-time volunteer work. Since 2014, POSCO employees have been active as talent volunteer groups, conducting customized volunteer activities using their skills.

Talent volunteer groups are volunteer teams where POSCO employees participate in volunteering by incorporating their skills, experiences, and hobbies into volunteer activities as a form of talent donation. The number of talent volunteer groups, which was only 14 until 2018, has actively increased since Chairman Choi Jeong-woo's inauguration to practice the management philosophy of 'Corporate Citizenship for Shared Growth,' reaching 43 groups at Gwangyang Steelworks alone.

▶ 'Clean Ocean Talent Volunteer Group' for Coastal Marine Environment Cleanup near Gwangyang Steelworks

Among them, there is a talent volunteer group particularly dedicated to creating a clean environment in the local community. The Clean Ocean volunteer group is a representative example leading marine environment cleanup.

The Gwangyang Steelworks Clean Ocean Talent Volunteer Group, formed in 2009 by employees with skin diving licenses, conducts underwater cleanup activities twice a month to protect the marine environment along the coast near Gwangyang Steelworks and surrounding areas.

They engage in volunteer activities such as collecting marine debris and rescuing people, removing waste from docks and starfish from aquaculture farms, and salvaging sunken abandoned fishing boats, acting as guardians of the sea.

Especially, they actively collect abandoned fishing nets, fishing gear, and tires washed ashore by summer floods, which cause inconvenience to local residents, and strive to create a clean marine ecosystem.

▶ 'Greener Environmental Energy Talent Volunteer Group' Actively Conducts Eco-Friendly Volunteer Activities in the Local Community

The 'Greener Environmental Energy' talent volunteer group at Gwangyang Steelworks collaborated with the Gwangyang Climate Environment Network to carry out an ice pack reuse support project, leading carbon reduction activities through resource circulation.

The 'Greener Environmental Energy' talent volunteer group decided to participate in volunteer activities to spread the culture of resource circulation for ice packs amid the increasing demand for delivery services such as online shopping and food delivery due to the prolonged COVID-19 pandemic.

Currently, about 80% of ice packs are indiscriminately discarded in volume-based waste bags, and about 15% are discharged into drains, becoming a major cause of soil and marine pollution due to microplastics. Particularly, 40% of discarded ice packs are made of superabsorbent polymers that do not decompose naturally.

To address this, the members collected ice packs from 50 dedicated collection boxes installed in apartments in Gwangyang City, in cooperation with the Gwangyang Climate Environment Network, which signed a pilot project agreement with Gwangyang City for ice pack reuse. They also washed and dried the collected ice packs and provided dedicated storage boxes to improve convenience.

The reused ice packs will be packaged and supplied free of charge to local small business owners after demand assessment by the Gwangyang Wholesale Market Merchants Association and Jungma Market Merchants Association. The clean ice packs are delivered in recycled baskets made from discarded banners, adding deeper meaning.

Jo Young-bong, deputy head of the Safety and Environment Department at Gwangyang Steelworks who participated in the volunteer activity, said, "It was regrettable that waste output increased due to the surge in disposable products from increased online shopping," and added, "I hope people will participate in carbon neutrality by raising resource reuse in daily life to reduce waste output and realize the importance of resource conservation."

Thus, Gwangyang Steelworks, embodying 'Corporate Citizenship for Shared Growth,' will actively realize a low-carbon eco-friendly society based on various eco-friendly management practices, carbon neutrality activities directly participated in by employees, and talent volunteer groups, striving to become a global top-level ESG company and a 100-year enduring company.

Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Heo Seonsik hss79@asiae.co.kr

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