SK Innovation has kicked off a new plogging campaign in large scale as the 3^rd season of its “I Green We Green” program, which aims to reduce single-use plastic products. The Korean name of the campaign is Sanhaejinmi, which means “protecting the mountains (san) and seas (hae) to realize the true (jin) beauty (mi) of the world.

The Sanhaejinmi Plogging Campagin officially started right before the World’s Environment Day to encourage all SK Innovation members to take actions protecting the Earth. With the voluntary participation of its members, the company will gather plastic waste from all of its domestic business site, including Seoul, Ulsan, Daejeon, Incheon, Seosan, and Jeungpyeong with the help from an ecco-friendly social enterprise. The collected plastic waste then will be recycled and turned into new products that will be donated to vulnerable groups such as the elderly living alone and children with developmental disabilities.

The company’s leaders, SK Innovation CEO and SK Global Chemical CEO are the ones who first participated in this campaign. 

On June 4^th, CEO of SK Innovation Kim Jun lead a group of employees to take part in plogging activity around SK headquarters building in Jongno, Seoul, South Korea. Following the social distancing guidelines by the government, each group of participants only has 4 people. Members who will join the campaign later this month and next month will also follow the same rules. SK Innovation members can join the campaign with not only co-workers but also their family members.

▲ CEO of SK Innovation Kim Jun participates in plogging activity in Myeongdong, Seoul, Korea, on June 4^th

On the same day, CEO Na Kyung-soo of SK Global Chemical also joined a small group of company members to “plog” in Myeong-dong, Seoul, Korea. As reported earlier, on April 22^nd, to celebrate Earth Day, SK Global Chemical is the first among SK Innovation subsidiaries to start plogging activity. SK Global Chemical has always among the pioneers leading programs to solve the waste plastic problem. CEO Na himself has participated 11 times in plogging activity since the beginning of this year, showing his strong will to implement “Green for Better Life” – SK Global Chemical’s key strategy.

▲ CEO of SK Global Chemical Na Kyung-soo participates in plogging activity in Myeongdong, Seoul, Korea, on June 4^th

Throughout the whole campaign, the participants will be provided eco-friendly biodegradable plastic bags made of PBAT (Poly Butylene Adipate-co-Terephthalate) material, which was jointly developed by SK Global Chemical and Kolon Industries to collect the garbage.

SK Innovation also makes effort in building a circular economy by completely replacing the volunteer vests of its members with eco-friendly ones. The new vests are made by Right Route, a social venture nurtured by SK Innovation. The fabrics that are used to make these vests are upcycled from plastic waste, and each vest is made from 11 waste plastic bottles. SK Innovation plans to distribute these eco-friendly vests to its members later this month. The company members will wear the new vests to participate in the plogging campaign.

▲ CEO of SK Global Chemical Na Kyung-soo takes a look at the new eco-friendly vests that will be distributed to the company member later this month