With the growth of LG Chem’s business and expansion of their products, the company’s greenhouse gas emissions are expected to increase. In that context, LG Chem became the first player in Korea’s chemical industry to announce their sustainability strategy in 2020, known as ‘2050 Carbon-neutral Growth,’ which provides differentiated and sustainable solutions to the customers, society, and environment. Since then, the company has been carrying out various carbon reduction activities, both internally and externally. This brought about many positive changes, and LG Chem made this a steppingstone to propel the introduction of new processing methods, conversion to eco-friendly raw materials and fuels, and extended use of renewable energy.

In July 2024, LG Chem issued <2023 Sustainability Report>, which reflects their efforts to realize Net Zero* through partnerships with other groups. The report introduces LG Chem’s strategies and practices to achieve Net Zero through different partnerships, and to excavate opportunities for sustainable growth. According to the report, LG Chem has chosen five core missions with the goal of ‘providing innovative and differentiated sustainable solutions for the environment and society’: Climate action, Renewable energy transition, Circular economy, Environmental protection, and Responsible supply chain.
Today, we will review the ESG outcomes that LG Chem accomplished by putting this sustainability strategy into practices.
*Net Zero: An initiative to make greenhouse gas emissions from human activities 0 (zero) by reducing the amount of emissions and absorbing carbon dioxide in the atmosphere

Greenhouse Gas Emission

LG Chem is aiming at cutting down their carbon emissions to 60% by 2035. In fact, the company has been steadily recording decrease in their carbon emissions for the past years. LG Chem’s Scope 1 and Scope 2* greenhouse gas emissions in 2023 were 9.55 million 8,199tCO2e (carbon dioxide equivalent), which decreased by 4.8% compared to 10.03 million 5,577tCO2e in 2022, and by 7.5% compared to 10.33 million 5,203tCO2e in 2021. These numbers are the result of various eco-friendly activities to achieve Net Zero, including the 3^rd Party Power Purchase Agreement (PPA).
*Scope 1 and Scope 2: Scope 1 refers to direct emissions, and Scope 2 refers to indirect emissions

Energy Use

LG Chem is gradually reducing the energy consumption and expanding the renewable energy use. Their total energy consumption recorded 166,294TJ (Terajoule) in 2023, which is a 5.8% decrease from 176,472TJ in 2022. On the other hand, their total renewable energy use recorded 880,000MWh, which is a 186% increase from 310,000MWh in 2021. In accordance with the results, the rate of transition to renewable energy, including all LG Chem business sites, rose from 5% in 2021 to 13% in 2023. In particular, 7 of their foreign branches achieved 100% transition to renewable energy as of last year. LG Chem plans to raise the proportion of renewable energy, such as solar and wind power, and is targeting at 100% transition to renewable energy by 2025.

Water Resources Management

In addition, LG Chem has been achieving successful outcomes in terms of water intake and usage. As for the water intake, it decreased by 5.9% from 73.42 million ㎥ in 2021 to 78.06 million ㎥ in 2021. The water usage also recorded over 10% decrease, from 56.61 million ㎥ in 2021 to 50.88 million ㎥ in 2023. Finally, the water reuse rate in 2023 was counted at 2.65%, which is a 3.5% increase from 2.3% in 2021. Based on these numbers, we can confirm that LG Chem has been steadily reducing the use of water and expanding the rate of water reuse.

Waste Management

Furthermore, LG Chem is reducing the generation of waste. In 2021, 278,345 tons of waste was generated. In 2022, the number rose by 0.4% to 279,585 tons. However, in 2023, the company generated 248,036 tons of waste, which is a 11.3% decrease from the previous year. This is a major decrease, even when compared to the number in 2021.

While LG Chem is cutting down the amount of waste generation, they are also maintaining a high waste recycling rate. As of 2023, their waste recycling rate recorded 89%. This is 3% higher than 86% in 2021.

So far, we reviewed LG Chem’s ESG outcomes, with focus on numbers in the environmental aspect. LG Chem will continue to lead the decarbonized supply chain ecosystem, connecting their customers and partners, through reinforcement of their ESG supply chain management capacity and global collaborations. Please keep your support for LG Chem as they improve their environment indications and build a sustainable industrial environment.