Hankook tyres awarded for emissions reduction efforts

HANKOOK Tyre & Technology (Hankook) has become the first Korean tyre manufacturer to receive Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) approval for meeting its near-term greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions reduction target.

SBTi is a global initiative that supports companies in setting targets that align with the latest climate science, including the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement limiting global average temperature increase to 1.5 degrees Celsius.

In aligning with SBTi approval, Hankook aims to reduce the total amount of direct and indirect GHG emissions generated in tyre production by 46.2 per cent by the end of the decade (when compared with 2019 figures).

The company further aims to reduce absolute GHG emissions generated throughout its supply chain by 27.5 per cent when measured against the same timeframe.

Hankook’s approval by the SBTi is recognised as significant. It is the first Korean manufacturer of 15 national and 5700 international large-scale companies participating to be recognised under the scheme.

In a statement issued by the manufacturer this week, Hankook said that it recognises sustainability as a key value in its business activities.

Hankook said it plans to achieve carbon neutrality in production globally by 2050 and has established a committee to realise this goal.

Last year, Hankook’s Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Committee carried out what it says were “numerous activities to reduce GHG and energy usage” by implementing high-efficiency facilities, using low-carbon energy, applying fuel conservation methods, and further developing energy optimisation across its production facilities and supply chain.

Already, these measures have reduced GHG intensity by a claimed 2.74 per cent compared with 2021.

“Our ESG Committee is a board committee designed to advise, deliberate, and decide on the most appropriate environmental, social, and governance-related directions so as to emphatically reinforce the sustainable development based on its economic, social, and environmental responsibilities as an enterprise,” Hankook said in a statement.

“Hankook Tyre & Technology’s ESG Committee was created by the resolutions implemented by the Board of Directors. The committee consists of at least three directors and its majority must be made up of outside directors. The chairperson is commissioned among its members by the resolutions, and the committee members are appointed or dismissed by the resolutions decided on by the board of directors.

“An outside director Lee Mi-ra was appointed as the chairperson of the ESG committee, which entirely consists of inside and outside directors, among which four of them are Pyo Hyun-myung, Kim Jong-gap, Kang Young-jae, and Lee Mi-ra. The term for the chairperson and members of the ESG is until the term expiration of the director.”

Hankook says that its sustainable natural rubber policy and circular economy system, dubbed E.Circle, focuses upon recyclability, renewability, reusability and reduction throughout the entire manufacturing process.

In 2021, it was the first tyre manufacturer to obtain the International Sustainability and Carbon Certification’s Plus eco-friendly certification, and in May of this year, in partnership with Kumho Petrochemical, developed a “high-functioning synthetic rubber” it says accelerates one of its ESG goals of achieving a sustainable raw material ratio of 55 per cent by 2025.

Last November, Hankook was included in Dow Jones Sustainability Indices World (DJSI World), the world’s top sustainability management evaluation index, for the seventh consecutive year.

In February, it solidified its position as a leading ESG management company by being designated Gold Class – the highest class possible – by S&P Global in its Annual Sustainability Report’s Industry Awards 2022.