■ Morethan, a social enterprise nurtured and supported by SK Innovation, received a certificate for the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) results of its upcycled products

■ SK Innovation Institute of Environmental Science & Technology established the LCA measurement system to assess the environmental impact of products in 2019

■ Support stakeholders to create social values by utilizing established infrastructure to reach Net Zero target

SK Innovation announced on July 21 (local time) that it held a third-party verification ceremony at SK Seorin Building for the Life Cycle Assessment (hereafter LCA) results of upcycled products by the social enterprise Morethan.

LCA is a method of measuring and evaluating the environmental impacts occurring throughout the entire product life cycle, such as ▲raw material procurement, ▲manufacturing, ▲packaging, ▲transportation, ▲use, and ▲disposal. As the assessment quantifies the amount of resources input and output at each stage according to internationally standardized procedures, it enables the quantification of various conditions, such as carbon footprints, as well as data management for improvement.

Morethan is a social enterprise that makes fashion items by upcycling discarded wastes such as car seats and airbags. SK Innovation derived the LCA results of Morethan’s “Thames Flap Briefcase” product, which used seats from scrap cars. A third-party verification was obtained from DNV* to secure objectivity and transparency of the results. This verification is important to confirm that the assessment results were calculated based on fair and unbiased data.

(*)DNV (Det Norske Veritas) is a global certification verification agency headquartered in Norway with over 350 offices worldwide. It conducts various eco-friendly certifications and verifications for global companies.

SK Innovation will continue to share its experience and knowledge in ESG, including conducting LCAs, to enhance the competitiveness of the social enterprises supported by the company. Through this, it is expected that the social enterprises can increase the reliability of their information on the impacts on environment, and thus gain more business opportunities.

SK Innovation Institute of Environmental Science & Technology established the LCA measurement system in 2019. The system is currently applied to review SK Innovation and its subsidiaries’ products and new businesses and is used for environmental impact management and carbon reduction efforts.

Kim Il-su, Head of SK Innovation Institute of Environmental Science & Technology R&D Strategy Office, said, “SK Innovation established LCA measurement system as an objective evaluation method to achieve Net Zero.” He added, “We will continue to cooperate with SK Innovation subsidiaries and our stakeholders, including social enterprises, to actively support them in creating social values.”

Morethan CEO Choi Yi-hyun (Ian Choi) said, “We are delighted to conduct environmental impact assessments with SK Innovation’s verification system and receive a global LCA certificate.” “Morethan will continue to improve and strive to grow into a company specializing in sustainable upcycling for the environment,” he added.

[Photo] (From left to right) Head of SK Innovation Institute of Environmental Science & Technology R&D Strategy Office Kim Il-su, Morethan CEO Choi Yi-hyun (Ian Choi), and Head of SK Innovation Value Creation Center Lim Su-kil takes a commemorative photo after the LCA certificate award ceremony for Morethan at SK Seorin Building, Jongno, Seoul, on July 21 (local time).