- Enhanced waste management systems and sorting processes improve resource recovery rates

- Continues efforts to advance ESG management, following the industry’s first `Recognition of Circular Resource`s obtained in March 2026.

Samsung Heavy Industries (SHI) is strengthening its ESG management by increasing the recycling rate of waste generated at its shipyard.

SHI announced that it held a ceremony at its Geoje shipyard on June 28 to receive the Zero Waste to Landfill (ZWTL) certification from UL Solutions, a U.S.-based global safety science company.

The ceremony was attended by Geum-sung Namgoong, Shipyard General Magager and Executive Vice president at SHI, and Hye-jin Yoon, Managing Director of UL Solutions Korea, among others.

The ZWTL certification is an environmentally focused certification awarded based on the proportion of waste generated at a business site that is diverted from landfill through recycling and other recovery efforts. It serves as a global benchmark for evaluating companies’ commitment to resource circulation.

Due to the diverse types of waste generated and the complexity of waste treatment processes inherent in shipbuilding operations, achieving resource circulation is more challenging in the shipbuilding industry than in many other sectors.

SHI became the first company in the shipbuilding industry to obtain the certification by continuously improving its waste management system to increase the proportion of waste being recycled.

First, SHI completely overhauled its waste classification system by categorizing all waste generated at its business sites by type and characteristics in accordance with its internally established waste classification procedures. It also improved the recovery rate of recyclable resources by linking manual sorting processes with mechanical sorting operations.

In addition, SHI further enhanced its waste management capabilities by conducting technical collaboration and specialized consulting with the regional environmental office and the Korea Environment Corporation, while also establishing a real-time monitoring and management system.

Earlier in March, SHI became the first company in the industry to obtain Recognition of Circular Resources from the Nakdong River Basin Environmental Office for four categories of nationally regulated waste: slag, dust, waste wood, and waste expanded synthetic resin (Styrofoam).

`Recognition of Circular Resources` is a government certification system under which waste materials that have been reprocessed to ensure they are not harmful to human health or the environment, and that can be traded commercially, are officially recognized as circular resources.

* Slag: metallic sludge generated during steel cutting processes

  Dust: metal particles generated during steel surface cleaning and rust removal processes

Meanwhile, SHI continues to take the lead in ESG management by actively developing environmentally friendly vessels powered by LNG, ammonia and hydrogen, as well as carbon reduction solutions, while incorporating climate-related considerations into its core business decision-making processes.

“ZWTL certification and the Recognition of Circular Resources are tangible outcomes of Samsung Heavy Industries’ efforts to increase waste recycling,” said Geum-sung Namgoong, Shipyard General Magager and Executive Vice president at SHI. “We will continue to strengthen our resource circulation system going forward.”