Water Resources Management

Water Resources Management Strategy

Coway is Korea's leading environmental home appliance company. It does not use water when manufacturing water purifiers, but instead applies an inspection method using nitrogen (waterless system), so it uses less water than other companies and does not discharge industrial water or wastewater. The scope of water-use includes water used during the product-development stage, reliability verification, and quality-inspection process in the mass- production stage, as well as water used by employees. Coway will continue to implement ongoing water-reduction efforts by continuously improving water consumption processes, and strictly monitoring water consumption to reduce the environmental impact on water resources.

Water Resources Risk Management

Coway annually monitors the amount of water resources used throughout production operations and business sites. Most of the water-discharge grades used are sewage grade, and are discharged through existing sewer lines. Coway is continuously striving to minimize environmental-impact risks in the use and discharge of water resources. Coway has been participating in CDP Water Security, a water information disclosure project, since 2015, and received a B- grade in the 2023 evaluation.

CDP, Water Security

Minimize Discharge of Water Pollutants

Coway is continuously striving to minimize environmental risks in the consumption and discharge of water resources. In particular, most of the water-discharge grades used are sewage grade and are discharged to sewage treatment plants through existing sewage conduits. In addition, we are continuously making efforts to minimize pollutants generated in the manufacturing process and reduce water consumption by improving the filter manufacturing process and introducing a 'waterless test system' that uses nitrogen and vacuum instead of water.

Waste Management

Waste Management System

Coway has continued striving to circulate resources by quantitatively managing volumes of wastes generated from all business areas, such as increasing recycling rates, achieving zero waste and minimizing production and disposal costs. In particular, for the wastes generated from the product and the service areas, Coway is reducing the use of resources by selling the substances with value, turning the wastes into solid refuse fuel (“SRF”) and developing products using recycled raw materials.

Waste-Processing Process

* Integrated Logistics: Integrated management of the performance of collecting and recycling waste products

Waste Management Status

Coway has created a virtuous cycle of resources throughout the entire process, from product development to sales, recovery and recycling. This is Coway's unique proactive activity that began in 2008, ten years before the enactment of the Framework Act on Resource Circulation in 2018, which manages not only product waste but also waste generated during the service process.

Goals on Improvement of the Waste Recycling Rate

Coway's goal is to achieve a 100% recycling rate of recyclable wastes and 100% resource-recovery rate of waste from business sites by 2030. In particular, by maintaining the refurbished product system, which was introduced for the first time in the home appliance rental industry in 2007, until today, Coway has established a sustainable management system throughout the entire value chain that internally reduces disposal costs and externally satisfies eco-aware consumers. This goal will become the Coway's environmental management achievement that will be achieved before it achieves Net-Zero in 2050.

Management of Hazardous Chemical Substances

Management of Hazardous Chemical Substances in Products

In order to strengthen the management of hazardous chemicals in products and prevent related risks, Coway has established a systematic Chemical Substance Management System based on the environmental management system and thereby manages the chemical substances by creating databases for products, parts and substances. Coway plans to strictly comply with Korean and international laws related to chemical substances and continue to ensure the safety of not only environmental appliances, but also all household appliances.

Description of Product Chemical Substance Management System

Coway complies with standards and regulations on management of chemical substances according to the Coway Chemical Substance Management Guideline when manufacturing its products.

Substances regulated by the “Coway Chemicals Management Guidelines” are Class I (Prohibited substances), Class II (Restricted substances), and Class III (Coway voluntary prohibited substances), which apply to all processes of Coway product development and production.

Efforts for Zero-chemical Risks

Coway has established ERIMS, a hazardous-chemical substance regulation monitoring system, in 2023 to respond to environmental regulations that are being continuously expanded and strengthened, and to ensure environmental safety. Through this system, Coway obtains information on regulations of chemical substances by country, regulatory classification and product group in real time. Currently, the scope of regulations managed by ERIMS includes hazardous substances, chemical substances, recycling, biocidal substances, and food hygiene, and Coway is strengthening its systematic response to regulations on hazardous chemical substances by continuously expanding the scope of regulations subject to monitoring.

Chemical Substances Management Plan

Year Description
2018

Extended the scope of legislation monitoring from electric and electronic products to food and hygiene safety, as various countries have strengthened laws and regulations and broadened the scope of enforcement
2019

Strengthened advanced response to regulations by establishing a prior monitoring system for regulations related to chemical substances

Preemptively responded to RoHS II regulation and verified compliance subjecting all products and parts
2020

Subdivided the chemical management system and improved and strengthened the integrated management system

Established and verified the domestic biocide management system
2021

Established a digital management system for chemical substances in mattresses, and strengthened the ability to respond to the regulations by broadening the scope of management

Advanced the monitoring systems for hazardous and/or chemical substances and for the related regulations and strengthened the verification ability

Established and verified the European biocide management system.
2022

Strengthened the company-wide ability to respond to regulations by implementing a prior monitoring IT system for regulations related to chemical substances

Made the management activities more efficient by implementing the chemical-substances management system and the response to regulations more systematical
2023

Implemented an advanced IT system for prior monitoring of regulations on chemical substances

Standardized and improved the post-event management process for the chemical substances

PVC & BFR Free Products

Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) creates toxic substances and environmental hormones during its use and disposal, which can have a negative impact on the human body and the natural environment. Brominated flame retardants (BFRs) may also be absorbed into the human body when exposed during use and disposal, which may cause cancer or genetic modification. Because of these risks, various countries around the world are trying to ban or voluntarily reduce the use of PVC and BFR in home appliances. Coway plans to apply 'PVC FREE & BFR FREE' to all air-purifier products to reflect this trend, and is continuously monitoring and analyzing its processes to avoid using PVC or BFR.

Monitoring and Analysis Processes for Avoiding Use of PVC & BFR

01

Utilization survey

02

Development or identification of alternative materials/parts

03

Establishment of transition development

04

Completion of transition

Voluntary Agreement on the Safety Management of Household Chemical Products

Businesses, civil society and government have been making efforts to keep chemical daily necessities safe by establishing the government-led governance called “Voluntary Agreement on Management of Household Chemicals Safety” since 2017. Coway has been participating in this initiative since 2019, making efforts to manufacture and sell safer products by disclosing all ingredients of household chemicals we manufacture, evaluating the safety of each raw material and replacing them where necessary with less hazardous raw materials. In 2024, the Household Chemicals Safety Promise Implementation Council is scheduled to be launched so that more companies can join efforts to create a safer household chemicals market. As a company that strives to ensure public safety based on its experience as a company that has been participating in voluntary councils, Coway will continue striving to become a benchmarked standard for consumers when they choose products.