SK Innovation successfully ran “EnviRun for the Earth” (EnviRun in short) Plogging Week from April 18 to 29 for in and outside of Korea as part of the company’s plogging campaign started last year. During the EnviRun Plogging Week, 4,045 employees of SK Innovation and affiliates participated, recording total 7,657 hours of volunteering. Furthermore, SK Innovation aims to scale up the number of participants in Korea including those who are not its employees to 300,000 citizens, which is nearly twice as much as the number of last year (about 160,000 people). Let’s take a look at how SK Innovation members as well as the partner companies, local communities and organizations across the globe joined the EnviRun Plogging Week 2022.

01 | Active participation of the company’s top management to lead by example

Kim Jun, Vice Chairman of SK Innovation signified the start of EnviRun Plogging Week 2022 by participating in a plogging activity with the company’s new employees on April 11. Vice Chairman Kim also gave his messages to encourage not only Korean members but also employees of SK Innovation across the globe to join this meaningful campaign.

▲ CEOs and employees of SK Innovation and subsidiaries participated in the EnviRun Plogging Week in mid April 2020. From upper left, clockwise: (First photo) Vice Chairman of SK Innovation Kim Jun and new employees of SK Innovation, (second photo) CEO of SK Geo Centric Na Kyung-soo and new employees of SK Geo Centric, (third photo) CEO of SK Energy Cho Kyung-mok and SK Energy employees, (fourth photo) CEO of SK Lubricants Cha Gyu-tak and SK Lubricants employees, (fifth photo) CEO of SK IE Technology Roh Jae-sok and SK IE Technology employees, (sixth photo) Head of SK Innovation Institute of Environmental Science & Technology Lee Seong-ju and members of the institute.

On April 6, Na Kyung-soo, CEO of SK Geo Centric, also participated in the plogging activity with new members of the company around the areas of Seoul Station and Namdaemun Market. On that day, CEO Na also shared SK Geo Centric’s eco-friendly business and business prospects with the members while plogging.

The participation of the leadership of SK Innovation’s subsidiaries in the EnviRun Week continued. Top management of SK Innovation subsidiaries including CEO of SK Energy Cho Kyung-mok, CEO of SK Lubricants Cha Gyu-tak, CEO of SK IE Technology Roh Jae-seok, and Head of SK Innovation Institute of Environmental Science & Technology Lee Seong-jun, all showing their genuine efforts to protect the environment by spending time plogging with the company’s members.

02 | 4,045 members of SK Innovation affiliates participated, spreading the program to global scale

▲ Numerous leaders and employees in domestic business sites of SK Innovation affiliates participated in the EnviRUn Plogging Week in mid April 2022

This is the second year Korean employees took part in the campaign, but they all actively joined the activity this year as well. Aside from small groups of co-workers, SK Innovation members also participated in EnviRun Plogging Week with their families, friends, and even their companion animals.

▲ (Left) SK Earthon Hochiminh took part in plogging activity nearby their office in District 1, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, on April 21 (local time) / (Right) SK hi-tech battery materials Poland (SKBMP) also completed plogging activity nearby Pogoria lake in Dąbrowa Górnicza, Silesian Voivodeship, Poland on the Earth Day (April 22) (local time)

The enthusiasm of SK Innovation’s members to make positive impacts on the environment can also be seen at overseas business site. Following SK Earthon Hochiminh (SKEO HCM) and SK hi-tech battery materials Poland (SKBMP), which held plogging activity in the first week of EnviRun Plogging Week, more SK Innovation’s global branches are holding diverse types of plogging programs. This time, in Poland, 110 people including SK employees and local government officers have participated in the plogging activity.

▲ SK Earthon Shenzhen (SKEO Shenzhen) participated in plogging activity on the roads nearby the Shenzhen office, China, on April 26 (local time)

In SK Earthon Shenzhen (SKEO Shenzhen), every member of the corporation actively engaged in the plogging campaign, noting that “they will make sure that this plogging week is not a one-time campaign, but will be a starting point of a continuous ESG project.”

▲ SK Lubricants & Oil India took part in plogging activity near the office at Sewa Corporate Park, Gurugram, Haryana, India on April 26 (local time)

▲ SK Earthon Lima Branch enjoyed plogging activity on the beach near the District of Barranco, Lima, Peru on April 26 (local time)

▲ SK hi-tech battery materials China (SKBMC) joined the plogging activity around Yushan Village, Jintan District, Changzhou, China on April 27 (local time)

SK Lubricants & Oil India (SKL India), SK Earthon Lima Branch (SKEO Lima), have also continued the activity to return the natural state of local parks and beaches. In SK hi-tech battery materials China (SKBMC), which had a ESG campaign with members of its joint venture BEST last year to introduce the right way to recycle, also held 2022 plogging campaign with partner company’s workers, enhancing local community’s awareness of sustainability by plogging the local lake.

▲ SK Energy International (SKEI) in Singapore successfully completed plogging activity in the East Coast Park on April 29 (local time)

▲ SK On Hungary (SKOH) and SK Battery Manufacturing (SKBM) members participated in plogging activity along the Danube River on April 29 (local time)

SK Energy International Singapore (SKEI Singapore), SK On Hungary (SKOH) and SK Battery Manufacturing (SKBM) also joined plogging event by plogging along the local river and parks. The global members who have participated left several comments on the plogging activities. Stacey Koh, a member of SKEI, said “it’s very fulfilling and heart-warming to see everyone’s commitment to restore our Earth!”, and Kevin Wong, a member of SKEI added “we will gladly continue to participate in the activities that can connect to the nature and people”, showing strong will for the continuous project. All plogging activities operated by SK Innovation and its affliates/subsidies followed the local COVID-19 guide lines.

03 | Expanding beyond the company’s program into a nationwide campaign

In addtion, SK Innovation signed an agreement with the Korea Coast Guard to make EnviRun bevome a Korean national-wide campain, following the running of the campaign with the Korea Volunteer Center and Korea Road Traffic Authority last year. The business agreement of four agencies signed on April 28 at the headquarters of the Korea Coast Guard was to cooperate and act together to bring changes in perception toward eco-friendliness and behaviors of Korean citizens. They are planning to expand the campaign by utilizing the network and infrastructure of respective agencies.

On that day, Choi Yun-seok, CEO of SK Incheon Petrochem, who was at the agreement ceremony on behalf of SK Innovation, and about 60 representatives of the agencies had a group plogging activity in Ahamdo Coast Park in Incheon as an opener of the nationwide EnviRun Campaign after the event.

On the same day, SK Innovation Ulsan Complex (hereafter, Ulsan CLX) also hosted a launching ceremony of the joint plogging activity with local government agencies in the Ulsan region and volunteer organizations. Ulsan CLX donated KRW 50 million to Ulsan Volunteer Center to promote plogging activity and recirculation business. Participants of the launching ceremony had a plogging activities by dividing the areas around the Jangsaengpo Marine Park into four sectors while walking the Culture Exploration Course.

Even though SK Innovation’s 2022 Plogging Week is over, the campaign is expected to continue inside and outside of Korea. SK Innovation’s EnviRun Campaign aims not only to end up as an event to pick up trash but also to get rid of accustomed habits and perceptions that did harm to the environment and create a green lifestyle for the environment and utilization of sustainable resources. EnviRun plogging campaign will expand to not just a corporational activity but a global campaign that the public from local community can also join.