Samsung Heavy Industries, which has raised the recycling rate of waste generated at shipyards, has obtained a global eco-friendly certification.
Samsung Heavy Industries said on the 28th that it received a Zero Waste to Landfill (ZWTL) certification from UL Solutions, a global safety standards certification body in the United States, at its Geoje Shipyard in South Gyeongsang Province. This is the first time in the shipbuilding industry that a case has received ZWTL certification.
The ZWTL certification is an eco-friendly certification granted by evaluating the rate at which waste generated at business sites is recycled without being landfilled, and it serves as an indicator for assessing corporations' resource-circulation efforts.
Samsung Heavy Industries has continued to improve its waste management system to increase the share of waste recycling. In shipbuilding, due to the nature of the processes, there are many types of waste generated and the handling is highly difficult, making resource circulation harder than in other industries.
Samsung Heavy Industries completely overhauled its waste classification system by classifying all waste generated at business sites by type and by physical properties in accordance with an internally established waste classification procedure. It also linked manual sorting and mechanical sorting processes to raise the recovery rate of recyclable resources.
In addition, it carried out technical collaboration and professional consultations with the Environment Agency and the Korea Environment Corporation (K-eco), and built a real-time monitoring management system.
On Mar., Samsung Heavy Industries also became the first in the industry to obtain "circular resource recognition" from the Nakdong River Basin Environmental Office for nationally controlled waste, including ▲ slag ▲ dust ▲ waste wood ▲ waste expanded synthetic resin (Styrofoam).
"Circular resource recognition" is a system in which the government recognizes waste as a circular resource once it has been treated so as not to harm health and the environment and becomes eligible for paid transactions.
Meanwhile, Samsung Heavy Industries is practicing ESG (environmental, social and governance) management by developing eco-friendly propulsion ships such as liquefied natural gas (LNG), ammonia and hydrogen, as well as carbon-reduction solutions.
Namgung Geum-seong, shipyard director at Samsung Heavy Industries, said, "The ZWTL and circular resource certifications are the results of Samsung Heavy Industries' efforts to recycle waste," and added, "We will further strengthen the resource-circulation system."