Sustainability can be termed as efforts by an organization to prevent depletion of natural resources that they can be utilized for a long time. As a manufacturer, LG Electronics has been engaging in sustainability efforts as it seeks to ensure that it leaves our planet as a better place than it found it.
One of the major polluters of our environment is greenhouse gases. These are essentially gases that raise the surface temperature of the Earth. They do this by absorbing sun rays and thereafter causing temperatures to rise. These gases include carbon dioxide, methane, Nitrous oxide among others.
Human activities during manufacturing have increased the concentration of these gases with carbon dioxide being the major culprit. This has led to global warming with the average surface temperature rising by 1.2 degrees. Something which has had a detrimental effect on the world at large. A good example of this is the number of droughts, wildfires that are being reported not to mention reduced rainfall in many parts of the world.
To counter this, LG has embarked on a mission to reduce its greenhouse emissions. This year, they recorded a 24 per cent reduction in its direct and indirect greenhouse gas emission from 114.7 million tons of GHG to 92.7 million tons which is quite significant. This is in line with its pledge to achieve net-zero by 2030.
Also, to reduce their reliance on fossil fuels, LG has committed to only using renewable energy at its global business sites by 2050. So far, they have recorded a renewable energy conversion rate of 8.2 percent. This is according to their recently released 2022-2023 Sustainability Report. They also joined RE100 (Renewable Energy 100), an initiative advocating for businesses to convert to 100 percent renewable energy.
In their push to become a sustainable company, they have established a circular ecosystem with a focus on recycling waste. Towards this, the company recovered a total of 472,876 tons of electronic waste from 52 countries last year. Since 2006, LG has recovered a cumulative total of recovered electronic waste that amounts to 3,992,768 tons. The recycled waste is then utilized in the manufacture of its products. As of 2022, the number of recycled plastics used in the company’s products reached 32,987 tons, 25 percent higher than 2021 figures.
Some of the products that they have manufactured using recycled materials include the back cover of LG OLED evo models, QNED TVs and NanoCell TVs released in 2023. With the use of recycled plastics on Tvs alone, the company expects to utilize 3,200 tons yearly.
The company has also worked to ensure that their products are climate friendly. These include their air conditioners which come with dual inverter compressors. These allow for air conditioners to adjust performance to changes in room temperature thus consuming less energy. They also use alternate substances to eliminate use of Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) that are known to deplete the ozone layer, a major culprit in climate change.
Given the way climate change is negatively affecting the world at large, it is nice to see a corporate which is taking this seriously and making moves to address it. Truth be told, if more companies took such measures, the world would be a far better place.