An interview with Jang Jin-hyuk, CEO of Inobus,
one of the three winners of the Environmental Social Business Discovery Contest
selected by SK Innovation in 2020.
Inobus’ homepage: http://www.inobus.co.kr/

Q1. First of all, we are always curious about the company’s name. So please tell us what Inobus means and how you started your business.

Sure. Some people may think that we are a transport company but actually Inobus stands for “Innovative Business Solutions.” It literally means that we aim to solve environmental problems in innovative ways.

In 2018, I followed my father to participate in an event called “Plastic Day”, where I was shocked after hearing that “Korea will be covered with trash in the next 10 years.” Since then, I couldn’t forget it and started to have more interest in environmental issues. While looking for the primary causes of urban environment problems, I learned about the danger of single-use plastic cups. Do you know only about 5% of plastic cups are recycled? This means 95% of the plastic cups discharged every year are simply thrown away as garbage, causing various environmental problems. After realizing the problem of single-use plastic cups, I was motivated to start an eco-friendly business to find new solutions. This was how Inobus was born.

Q2. All of the members of Inobus are very young. How did you meet them and become a team?

One of the founding members of Inobus is my friend of 10 years, and the other is my military colleague*. Everyone is passionate, and we know each other well because we’ve been friends for a long time. So, we started Inobus together. After that, young developers and designers who sympathize with the social problems Inobus wants to solve and the future we dream of joined us. Now we have a young and passionate team as you see.

(*) In South Korea, male citizens between the ages of 18 and 28 have to perform compulsory military service.

Q3. As far as we know, in Korea there are not many people who have their own startup in their 20s. So from your point of view, what are the pros and cons of becoming a startup founder and owner at a young age?

I myself had not thought that I could own a business this soon. In Korea, people around my age are called the “newbie to society,” and many of them just started working in companies as junior members. I chose a different way and it was not easy to start, but so far I think this is the right path for me.

Rather than picking the pros and cons, I’d like to talk about some differences between working for a corporate as an employee and having a startup business. When my friends, who are office workers, receive their salary on payday, I’m the one who have to pay out the money on that day. Jokes aside, as a founder/owner of a company, I have much responsibility to take and every decision I make has a direct effect on not only the business but also the teamwork. On the other hand, I became more proactive and objective. Moreover, I feel rewarded by being immersed in work with passionate members and proud to see how our company is growing everyday.

Q4. We’ve check the “Sseu-saem” machine, which is the flagship product of Inobus, and it was amazing. Could you introduce more about this machine?

“Sseu-saem” is a new concept of waste sorting machine that can ▲ empty the contents of single-use plastic cups, ▲ automatically clean the inside of the cup, and ▲ discharge them all at once.

Sseu-saem is an abbreviation for trash and teacher in Korean. We gave the machines this cute name because it helps us to dispose the waste in a correct way, like how a teacher guides the students.

▲ A Sseu-saem machine developed by Inobus

With IoT technology, Sseu-saem enables more efficient waste management by checking the disposing pattern by waste type and the day of the week. Besides, if the weight of the collected single-use plastic cups or the amount of remaining contents such as beverages exceeds 70% of the total loading capacity, an alarm will go off before they are exceeded, enabling quick response. Besides, the loading capacity is also about 10 times higher than that of the existing trash can of the same size. Moreover, the internal structure maximizes space utilization by stacking the cups for disposal.

Also, plastic waste cleaned by “Sseu-saem” can be reused for making desks and chairs, etc., so it’s killing two birds with one stone. Besides, we expect that our machines will help us spread the culture of correct steps to recycle based on 4 principles guided by the Ministry of Environment of Korea: ▲ empty, ▲ wash, ▲ separate, and ▲ sort without mixing.

 ▲ A short clip showing how to use an Inobus’s Sseu-saem machine

Q5. As far as we know, Inobus won gold at the World Inventions Creativity Olympic in 2019. You also won more than 10 awards and got 7 intellectual property rights until now. Looks like Inbus has been growing fast in a short period of time. Could you share with us some details about Inobus’ latest activities?

We are currently working on a collaboration project to circulate waste plastic resources in South Gyeongsang Province, Korea with Usisan, another social enterprise supported by SK Innovation. Busan Port Authority is sequentially installing our Inobus’ waste sorting machines in the International Passenger Ship Terminals, and the plastics collected there will be used by Usisan to upcycle them into products such as plush toys, blankets and then donated to Save The Children.

Inobus is also working with SK Innovation and SK Telecom to prepare a project that aims to build a waste plastic resource recycling system. In addition to collection/separation, logistics, promotion, and product development, we will be able to receive AI technology support through this project. We cannot disclose more details at the moment, but it is a highly anticipated project.

Q6. Wow. We’re really looking forward to those projects. Another question we’d like to ask. We all know that not only Korea but the whole world is facing serious plastic waste problems, including single-use plastic cups. Would Inobus be interested in advancing into the overseas market in the future?

Yes, of course. After forming a complete resource cycle in Korea this year, we plan to cooperate with overseas companies, first by advancing to Singapore and the UK, which have deep understanding of environmental issues, in the second half of 2022.

Q7. Great to know that. Thank you for your information. So lastly, do you have any other message to leave for our SKinno News readers?

We ask for your continued interest and support in the future. At the end of this month, a newly developed waste sorting machine from Inobus will be released. I hope there will be an opportunity to introduce the product to you next time. Thank you!