Rapid evolution of capitalism, tensions of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, and deepening climate and environmental issues; the industrial paradigm is changing. It is no longer a choice but a must for global leading enterprises to steer toward ESG management.

In this 6^th episodes of “SK Innovation’s ESG management” series, we would like to introduce the most recent good news from SK IE Technology (SKIET), a material business subsidiary of SK Innovation. Recently, SKIET has announced to replace 100% of necessary electricity with eco-friendly energy, an action that demonstrates the company’s determination to practice ESG management. Let’s learn more about this action through a conversation between two members of SKIET ESG Unit: Lee Da-hye (new member of the team) and Park Chang-min (team leader).

On one hand, excellent technology and production capacity have been the foundation of SKIET, which has always been putting ESG management into practice in the background. SKIET is capable of making the separator 4 micrometer(μm) thick, which is 1/25 that of a strand of hair. SK Innovation’s batteries that use SKIET’s separators were never caught on fire, so it is known as a “premium separator” in the business.

Meanwhile, SKIET is quickly enhancing its productivity following the growth of the global electric car market. SKIET has currently secured a total production capacity of 870 million m² of separators manufacture capacity across its factories in South Korea, China, Poland. When the facilities that are currently under construction begin operation, SKIET’s total capacity of LiBS will rise to approximately 1.37 billion m² by the end of this year, and approximately 1.87 billion m² by the end of 2023, which is more than twice the current capacity.