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Environmental compliance principles
Hyosung adheres to the principles to minimize pollution and environmental impacts and effectively manage environmental risks by adhering to environmental laws and regulations.
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1. In accordance with environmental management policies, manuals, and procedures, we shall immediately reflect any amendments to environmental laws and regulations, carefully review environmental laws to manage environmental risks efficiently, and assess compliance annually.
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2. We shall make efforts to reduce our environmental impact by establishing internal standards that are more stringent than legal requirements.
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3. We shall transparently disclose our compliance with environmental laws and regulations to stakeholders through various channels, such as sustainability reports, the Env-Info System, and the CDP.
Environmental management system
Every year, Hyosung sets KPIs and objectives for environmental management items (e.g. environmental qualification management, environmental impact assessment, environmental compliance assessment, regulation management, air and water pollutant concentrations, waste generation, responding to stakeholder complaints), develops annual plans, and evaluates whether or not these objectives are met.
Water
quality
The Anyang Plant undergoes water quality analysis four times a month for general water pollutants and quarterly for specific hazardous substances through an external agency. The plant also sets its own management standards, which are stricter than legal requirements, with water pollutant discharge limited to within 30% of the legal limit.
Air
quality
The Anyang Plant has set its own management standards at 20% of the legal emission allowance for air pollutants such as NOx and SOx. The plant conducts continuous monitoring, and in case of an excess, it undergoes immediate improvement measures, such as equipment replacement. Also, the installation of low-NOx burners helps minimize air pollutant emissions. In addition, the Anyang Plant rules out the use of substances containing chlorofluorocarbons, which are governed by the Montreal Protocol, an international treaty designed to protect the ozone layer.
Waste
Hyosung adheres to procedures set forth in relevant laws and regulations to ensure that waste generated from our business sites are treated and tracked legally. The Anyang Plant processes defective chips and yarns into a form that can be sold to recyclers instead of disposing of them, thereby contributing to reducing waste that would otherwise be incinerated or sent to landfills.
Chemical
substances
Hyosung has an in-house chemical management system in place to effectively manage all chemicals used in the production process. All materials purchased by the company undergo evaluations to determine the presence or absence of chemicals. The managers at each business site verify whether the materials are subject to chemical regulations and approve the purchase only when compliance with regulations is confirmed. The Group also conducts group-wide chemical training annually in addition to the statutory training provided to plant managers across all companies. The Anyang Plant does not use hazardous materials.
Soil
The Anyang Plant has no facilities that cause soil pollution.
Zero-
emission
vehicles
(ZEVs)
Hyosung operates ZEVs, including electric vehicles, that can reduce air pollution and GHG emissions. We plan to increase the proportion of ZEVs to total vehicles over time.
Development of pollution
reduction technology
Development of eco-friendly catalyst processing technology to replace harmful heavy metals
Hyosung successfully developed the world's first eco-friendly polyester catalyst called "antimony-free” and received recognition for its patented technology. We were also awarded the King Sejong Prize by the Korean Intellectual Property Office.
"Antimony-free” is an eco-friendly catalyst that replaces antimony, which is used to produce polyester products. Antimony is one of the eight heavy metals. Even though many leading companies in and outside of Korea had tried to develop an alternative for antimony, they failed in the commercialization. Using tin (Sn) instead of heavy metals, our antimony-free catalyst is safe for the human body and the earth. We completed the development in 2020 and succeeded in mass production using the catalyst, just three years after initiating the project in 2017.
The antimony-free catalyst reduces the input of catalysts by one-tenth compared to previous ones, leading to a significant reduction in plastic waste generated during the production of polyester products. In addition, the catalyst improves the production process and enhances the quality of the final products.
"Antimony-free” is an eco-friendly catalyst that replaces antimony, which is used to produce polyester products. Antimony is one of the eight heavy metals. Even though many leading companies in and outside of Korea had tried to develop an alternative for antimony, they failed in the commercialization. Using tin (Sn) instead of heavy metals, our antimony-free catalyst is safe for the human body and the earth. We completed the development in 2020 and succeeded in mass production using the catalyst, just three years after initiating the project in 2017.
The antimony-free catalyst reduces the input of catalysts by one-tenth compared to previous ones, leading to a significant reduction in plastic waste generated during the production of polyester products. In addition, the catalyst improves the production process and enhances the quality of the final products.