On June 28, Samsung Electronics released the 2024 edition of its Sustainability Report, which contains the company’s strategies and major achievements related to the environment, social and governance.
The company continues to disclose the results of materiality assessments focused on sustainable management that consider both the impacts of corporate activities on the external environment and external factors on the company.
Environment
In September 2022, Samsung announced its New Environmental Strategy, which includes its goals to achieve net zero Scope 1,2 emissions by 2050, maximise resource circularity to contribute to a circular economy and tackle environmental challenges through technological innovation.
Samsung’s Device eXperience (DX) division aims to reach net zero Scope 1,2 emissions by 2030. The DX division achieved 93.4% renewable energy conversion as of the end of 2023 — which includes 100% renewable energy used at major global manufacturing facilities in the United States, Europe, Korea, China, Brazil, India and Vietnam.
In line with the company’s Resource Circularity Roadmap, recycled resin was incorporated in 25% of procured plastic parts purchased last year. Moreover, the DX division expanded its electronic waste (e-waste) recovery and recycling programs to more than 70 countries as at the end of 2023.
Samsung’s Device Solutions (DS) division installed new process gas treatment facilities (regenerative catalytic systems, RCS) and expanded the use of liquid natural gas (LNG) waste heat recovery systems in 2023 to help reach net zero Scope 1,2 emissions by 2050. As a result of various reduction activities, the DS division’s Scope 1,2 emissions decreased by 11.6% in 2023 compared to 2022. Additionally, the DS Division has expanded its renewable energy use by signing power purchase agreements (PPAs) in Korea to supply renewable energy from a 60-megawatt solar power plant.
Proving the excellence of its water management systems, Samsung obtained Platinum certification — the highest level — from the Alliance for Water Stewardship (AWS) for its Giheung, Hwaseong and Pyeongtaek facilities in Korea and its Xi’an facility in China. Furthermore, the company is reducing waste generation by expanding the number of resource circularity certifications obtained from Korea’s Ministry of Environment to include certifications for nine new items as of March 2024.
Social and Governance
Samsung says it is upholding human rights and improving working environments while striving to create a strong corporate culture for executives and employees. The Global Grievance Resolution Policy was enacted in April 2024 to ensure grievances received are fairly and consistently handled per the company’s Global Human Rights Principles. With a goal of increasing the number of women in the workforce, Samsung plans to more than double the baseline number of women executives by 2030 as compared to 2022.
Continuing its support for employees with disabilities, Samsung opened a subsidiary standard workplace in 2023 called “Stellar Forest” to create sustainable jobs for people with developmental disabilities. Starting with a confectionary manufacturer that supplies baked goods to Samsung employees, Stellar Forest plans to diversify into additional industries to create more job opportunities fit for those with disabilities.
Samsung is gradually expanding its supply chain management scope to include second tier and non-manufacturing suppliers. Third-party audits were introduced to select second-tier suppliers in 2023, extending the Supplier Code of Conduct from manufacturing suppliers to all suppliers that provide products and services to Samsung.
Furthermore, the company expanded its security platform Samsung Knox to cover not only smartphones but also smart TVs and smart home appliances. With regular security updates of Galaxy mobile devices, Samsung extended the support period for security updates up to seven years starting from January 2024.
Samsung says it prioritises personal information protection, product quality, customer safety, compliance and ethical management across the company.
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