Samsung doing away with hazardous substances

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Samsung is the largest combine in South Korea and is one of the planet’s largest multi-billion dollar companies. The conglomerate is composed of various multinational companies but three companies form its core:

• Samsung Electronics – the world’s largest information technology and electronics company
• Samsung Heavy Industries – a shipbuilding company
• Samsung Engineering & Construction – a construction company

It is from the fusion of these three entities that the name “Samsung,” which in Korean means “tristar” or “three stars,” is based on.

Samsung is already an established world brand; in 2005, it overtook Sony as the world’s largest consumer electronics corporate entity and it became part of the group that comprises the top 20 brands in the whole world.

The company is so successful and so fused with its domestic market that the South Korean government has already undergone measures to contain its power. In the 90’s the government separated CJ Corporation from the group, which is a sugar production company that was part of the Samsung umbrella since the 1950s. Nevertheless, Samsung still has a great influence on South Korea’s politics, culture, and economic development. Its employees are so loyal to the entity that it is purported that the majority work long hours with no holidays or weekends. For many South Koreans, the Samsung Group is a source of national pride.

Key People:

• Lee Kun-Hee – Chief Executive Officer and Chairman
• Jong-Yong Yun – Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer
• Dong-Jin Oh – President and Chief Executive Officer, SAMSUNG Electronics America, Inc.

In 2004, much to the approval of environmental groups, the company declared it was going to cease using environmentally dangerous substances and will start using more eco-friendly alternatives. This event transpired after Greenpeace found phthalates, brominated flame retardants and organotin compounds in some models of the company’s cellular phones and TV sets. Greenpeace then coded several of the company’s products as red, indicating them as containing hazardous substances.

Bart van Opzeeland of Greenpeace applauded this move by saying “Samsung is setting a trend in the field of substitution of hazardous chemicals in consumer products. This should serve as an example for other companies and provide a roadmap for a new strict European chemicals policy, which the European Union (EU) is currently developing.”

Samsung was the first company to have its rating elevated in the Greenpeace database ever since the environment advocacy organization began its campaign.

The Head of European Environmental Affairs for Samsung Electronics in Europe, Gregor Margetson said “Samsung Electronics has always taken environmental issues seriously and our work with Greenpeace shows we welcome constructive input on such subjects. Their initial criticism motivated us to re-evaluate our goals and consider what is truly possible. We choose to take the difficult option because we have ambitions to become a more sustainable company, and we realize that this prize comes at a price.” Such is the conviction of this statement to correct the electronic company’s previous lapse that this statement has been printed in several articles.

In light of this resolute announcement, the company has implemented several steps in order to realize its eco-friendly goals. These include:

• Implementation of stringent in-house regulations and the company’s Tele-metering System, which are 30% more strict than the South Korean government’s standards regarding pollution-causing substances.
• Compilation and analyses of information about pollution-causing substances in real time. The results of these are then sent to concerned groups within and outside the electronics company. This cooperation with internal and external groups about sensitive materials enables the company to assess the implications of using the substances much more accurately.

Furthermore, the company has regularly phased out several substances from its production lines. How it does this is based on the following three principles:

• “Beyond Legal Compliance” – Under this precept, the company frequently goes beyond and above what the law requires and often takes the initiative of banning substances it deems to be hazardous to the environment, even when there are no restrictions saying so.
• “Decision making based on Scientific Evidence & the Precautionary Principle” – The company often voluntarily stops from using substances that it has deemed dangerous, even when there is no rigorous study and consensus from external scientific communities that have identified them as hazardous.
• “Identification of Target Substances” – Samsung has made a list of ecologically-hazardous substances in accordance with the aforementioned precepts. Substances that have been reported by suppliers are continually monitored and analyzed by the company for future phase out programs and restrictions.

With these self-imposed restrictions, Samsung has proven to the global community that even corporate giants can sustain and develop eco-friendly processes.

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