Hankook Tire Publishes 'ESG Report' Detailing Sustainable Management Achievements

Hankook Tire & Technology (hereinafter Hankook Tire) announced on the 3rd that it has published the ‘2022/23 ESG Report,’ which contains its sustainable management activities and achievements over the year 2022, as well as its mid- to long-term strategies.

Marking its 14th edition since 2010, this report is based on Hankook Tire’s ESG vision framework of ‘Innovation for a Sustainable Future’ and covers performance in three main categories: eco-friendly circular structure, sustainable products, and responsible participation.

Hankook Tire’s efforts toward sustainable management began with strengthening its ESG management system. Starting with the establishment of a dedicated CSR organization in 2009, it launched the ESG Strategy Committee and Operations Committee in 2010, and in 2018, it promoted the sustainable natural rubber policy and the E.Circle declaration, a strategy to build an eco-friendly circular economy system. In 2021, the company established an ESG Committee within the Board of Directors, the highest decision-making body for ESG, sharing its vision and achievements on sustainable management with employees and continuously enhancing ESG standards across the organization.

Additionally, in May last year, Hankook Tire announced the ‘Corporate Governance Charter,’ which serves as the cornerstone of sustainable management, expressing its commitment to transparent and sound ESG management practices. This year, it has been focusing on establishing responsible governance by enacting the ‘Outside Director Code of Ethics’ and adopting regular evaluations of board operations.

The company has also taken the lead in building an eco-friendly value chain through greenhouse gas emission reductions. Centered around the Climate Change Committee, it has developed systematic climate change response strategies and incorporated them into its management activities. Various energy reduction initiatives are underway, including the introduction of high-efficiency equipment to reduce greenhouse gas emissions at business sites, optimization of energy use, and utilization of renewable energy.

In March last year, Hankook Tire became the first in the domestic tire industry to join the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) and submitted its greenhouse gas reduction targets. The goal is to reduce the total direct (Scope 1) and indirect (Scope 2) greenhouse gas emissions generated during the product manufacturing stage by 46.2% by 2030 compared to 2019 levels. Furthermore, it plans to reduce total greenhouse gas emissions (Scope 3) from the value chain?including raw material procurement, distribution, and investment?by 27.5% by 2030 compared to 2019, aiming for mid- to long-term reductions of all greenhouse gases generated in product manufacturing and key business activities.

In May this year, Hankook Tire expanded its activities in low-carbon management by collaborating with Kumho Petrochemical to develop eco-friendly tires applying eco-friendly high-performance synthetic rubber (Eco-SSBR).

Activities in the sustainable products sector are also prominent. The company strives to reduce environmental impacts throughout the entire product lifecycle, from raw material procurement to manufacturing, use, and disposal. In particular, it has achieved results in preventing the depletion of natural resources and reducing carbon emissions by discovering sustainable eco-friendly materials and developing application technologies during the design and raw material procurement stages.

Alongside this, Hankook Tire is dedicated to developing technologies to strengthen competitiveness in the future mobility industry. It is developing technologies such as the ‘Intelligent Tire,’ which shares information using sensors embedded inside the tire, and the airless tire ‘i-Flex.’ Last year, it garnered significant industry attention by realizing the ‘WheelBot,’ a modular wheel robot concept product optimized for future smart cities.

Detailed information about the report is available in an online publishing format under the ESG menu on Hankook Tire’s global official website, and a PDF version can be downloaded for use.

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