Samsung Electronics publishes 2024 Sustainability Report

Samsung Electronics has published its 2024 Sustainability Report.

Samsung continues to disclose the results of materiality assessments focused on sustainable management, which take into account both the impact of corporate activities on the external environment and external factors on the company. This report includes Samsung’s strategies and major achievements related to the environment, social issues and governance.

Environment

Climate change and energy │ Resource cycles and waste │ Water

In September 2022, Samsung announced a new environmental strategy that includes the company’s goals to achieve net zero emissions within 1.2 by 2050, maximize resource circularity to contribute to a circular economy, and address environmental challenges through technological innovation.

Samsung’s Device eXperience (DX) business is committed to achieving net zero emissions in Scope 1.2 by 2030. DX achieved 93.4% renewable energy conversion by the end of 2023 – which includes 100% renewable energy used across its largest global manufacturing facilities in the United States, Europe, Korea, China, Brazil, India and Vietnam.

According to the company’s Resource Circularity Roadmap, recycled resin was incorporated into 25% of purchased plastic parts last year. Additionally, the DX division has expanded its electronic waste (e-waste) recovery and recycling programs to more than 70 countries by the end of 2023.

Samsung’s Device Solutions (DS) business installed new process gas treatment facilities (regenerative catalytic systems, RCS) and expanded its use of liquefied natural gas (LNG) waste heat recovery systems in 2023 to help achieve net-zero Scope 1.2 emissions by 2050. As a result of various reduction efforts, DS’s Scope 1.2 emissions decreased by 11.6% in 2023 compared to 2022. Additionally, DS expanded its use of renewable energy 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 has achieved Platinum certification—the highest level—from the Alliance for Water Stewardship (AWS) for its Giheung, Hwaseong and Pyeongtaek plants in Korea and its Xi’an plant in China. The company is also reducing waste generation by increasing the number of resource circularity certifications it has obtained from the Korean Ministry of Environment to include nine new certifications from March 2024.

Society and Governance

Employees │ Supply chain │ Security and information protection │ Product quality and safety │ Running a business

Samsung respects human rights and improves the work environment while striving to create a strong corporate culture for management and employees. The Global Grievance Policy was enacted in April 2024 to ensure that complaints received are handled fairly and consistently in line with the company’s global human rights principles. With the goal of increasing the number of women in the workforce, Samsung plans to more than double the number of women in management positions by 2030, compared to 2022.

In continuation of its support for employees with disabilities, Samsung launched a subsidiary called “Stellar Forest” in 2023 to create sustainable jobs for people with developmental disabilities. Starting as a confectionery manufacturer that supplies baked goods to Samsung employees, Stellar Forest plans to diversify into additional industries to create more employment opportunities tailored to people with disabilities.