 |
| A Better, Healthier Planet Starts Here: Samsung's Sustainability Initiatives in Oceania and Southeast Asia |
A Better, Healthier Planet Starts Here: Samsung's Sustainability Initiatives in Oceania and Southeast Asia by Sangho Jo, President & CEO of Samsung Electronics, Southeast Asia and Oceania.
Sustainability is at the forefront of government, business, and consumer discussions and actions more than ever. Addressing the ongoing climate crisis and establishing a circular economy are without a doubt some of the most significant and pressing issues of our time.
Samsung Electronics are actively working to improve environmental sustainability for present and future generations. We believe that because of their unique size and complexity, their ongoing investments in environmental health have the potential to have a significant impact.
As a result, their organization's new global environmental strategy to address climate change holistically was announced in September 2022.
Their new approach to the environment includes commitments to achieving enterprise-wide net zero emissions by 2050, expanding the use of renewable energy, and strategic investments in new sustainable technologies to create a better, healthier planet for all, all with a focus on the outcomes and careful reflection of our business's complexity.
This new plan significantly expands the scope of upcoming programs and investments by building on Samsung Electronics' existing climate change efforts. The infographic that can be found here provides a helpful summary.
In addition, Samsung Electronics has joined the RE100, a global corporate renewable energy initiative, and the company intends to use renewable energy to power all of its operations outside of Korea and the Device eXperience (DX) Division within five years. By 2027, we in Southeast Asia and Oceania (SEAO) should be able to match the amount of electricity we use with renewable energy.
They intend to improve their electronics products' resource circularity throughout the entire product lifecycle under the new strategy. They intend to incorporate plastics recycled from discarded fishing nets into additional products, including the Galaxy Z Fold4 and Flip4. In addition, they will reduce energy consumption by implementing low-power technologies in major models of seven consumer electronics items, including smartphones, refrigerators, washing machines, air conditioners, televisions, monitors, and personal computers.
 |
| A Better, Healthier Planet Starts Here: Samsung's Sustainability Initiatives in Oceania and Southeast Asia |
 |
| A Better, Healthier Planet Starts Here: Samsung's Sustainability Initiatives in Oceania and Southeast Asia |
Additionally, they intend to expand the scope of their e-waste collection system to more than 180 nations by 2030, from approximately 50 today. They also intend to collect a total of 10 million tons of electronic waste between 2009 and 2030, which is one of the highest industry targets.
Sustainability involves everyone
This is an all-hands-on-deck effort that cuts across the entire business, including right here for us in SEAO.
As we make progress toward eliminating the use of paper, the integrated global customer service system has been implemented at the majority of our Samsung Service Centers throughout the region. In addition, eco-conscious practices have been implemented at our Samsung Services Centers throughout the region. Documents from product repairs, service records, and receipts for customers are now sent electronically via email or message.
Customers in Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, and Vietnam now receive their returned mobile phones packed in environmentally friendly materials. For instance, in Australia, customers can anticipate eco-friendly packaging that can be repurposed into a mobile and table stand and is made from 96% recyclable materials.
Reducing E-waste
E-waste ‘Eco Boxes’ are also available in over 180 Samsung Service Centers in SEAO currently, such as major cities like Auckland, Bangkok, Kuala Lumpur, Manila and Sydney, allowing customers to conveniently dispose of their old mobile phones and recycle them in a proper way.
 |
| A Better, Healthier Planet Starts Here: Samsung's Sustainability Initiatives in Oceania and Southeast Asia |
Customers can also choose to use Eco Repair to replace only the defective parts of their product rather than the assembly modules to cut down on e-waste.
 |
| A Better, Healthier Planet Starts Here: Samsung's Sustainability Initiatives in Oceania and Southeast Asia |
They collaborated with the technology recycling company Computer Recycling in New Zealand to reuse the gold, silver, and other metal parts of discarded appliances like televisions, refrigerators, and smartphones. These include old electronics that are taken from Papua New Guinea and other islands in the South Pacific, like Fiji, Samoa, and Tahiti, and sent to Auckland for recycling. Samsung New Zealand is currently looking to increase its recycling capacities over the next two years because the initiative has been well received.
In September, they launched the "Go Green, Go Galaxy" campaign in Singapore. This campaign offered additional discounts on Samsung Galaxy Watch5 series devices and the Galaxy Buds2 Pro to customers who chose to recycle their previous wireless earbuds and smartwatch at our in-store e-waste bins. Alba, their e-waste operator partner, collected these outdated devices for recycling and proper treatment, returning the recovered raw materials to production when necessary.
 |
| A Better, Healthier Planet Starts Here: Samsung's Sustainability Initiatives in Oceania and Southeast Asia |
For the future, public education on the significance of sustainability must continue, particularly among our region's youth. This is accomplished through their regular outreach to youth, which includes their annual student competition, Solve for Tomorrow, which focuses on STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics).
Solve for Tomorrow has resulted in a plethora of cutting-edge creations pertaining to sustainability. For instance, in the High School Category for Solve for Tomorrow last year, the Team Eco Warriors student team from Hanoi, Vietnam (shown in the image below) won. By melting and molding plastic masks into plastic pots, their initial mask-recycling machine aims to reduce waste caused by the widespread use of face masks during the pandemic.
 |
| A Better, Healthier Planet Starts Here: Samsung's Sustainability Initiatives in Oceania and Southeast Asia |
They take their environmental responsibilities very seriously at Samsung. Samsung is making this daring bet to ensure that it plays an active role in the protection of the planet for our younger and future generations, even though we are aware that the strategy of one company will not be an all-encompassing solution.
As they implement their bold environmental actions and targets in all markets in the region, they can anticipate seeing real, measurable changes to their operations in the coming year. They are optimistic about the changes they are making with their employees, customers, partners in the industry and government to make sustainability a part of their customers' everyday lives in Southeast Asia, Oceania, and beyond.
About Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd.
Samsung inspires the world and shapes the future with transformative ideas and technologies. The company is redefining the worlds of TVs, smartphones, wearable devices, tablets, digital appliances, network systems, and memory, system LSI, foundry and LED solutions.
No comments:
Post a Comment