LG Electronics has set a goal to use almost 600,000 metric tons of recycled plastic by 2030 in a concerted effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the value chain. The goal is a part of LG’s larger initiative to create a take-back ecosystem for electronic waste and increase the use of post-consumer recycled materials in its consumer electronics and home appliance products.
In 2020, LG used about 20,000 metric tons of recycled plastic in its products, which it plans to increase more than tenfold by 2025. While recycled plastic is currently used inside LG TVs, monitors, speakers, washing machines, refrigerators and air conditioners, LG will expand the use of recycled plastic to the exterior of its products as well.
In addition to using more recycled plastic, LG is reducing the use of virgin plastic throughout its operations as well. For example, this year, 18 OLED TV models will be produced using less virgin plastic, up from 14 models in 2020, reducing as much as 10,000 metric tons of plastic.
LG is also increasing its target amount of electronic waste take-back from its 4.5 million metric tons in 2006 to more than 8 million metric tons by 2030; LG is implementing initiatives to take back and recycle electronic waste in 52 countries. In South Korea, the LG Chilseo Recycling Center, which opened in 2001, not only takes back electronic waste but also manufactures new components from the recycled plastic and delivers them to the nearby LG’s home appliance plant for use in products such as refrigerators.
LG is focusing its efforts on reducing greenhouse gas emissions throughout the entire product life cycle from production and transportation to use and disposal. As a key component of its sustainable management goals, LG’s parent company LG Corp. entered into an agreement with the Korean Ministry of Environment and local civic groups in June to implement plastic-free management at its main R&D campus, LG Sciencepark.
