Samsung Achieves Zero Waste to Landfill Platinum Across All Factories

Samsung has recently achieved a major milestone in its environmental management strategy. The company has earned UL Solutions’ Zero Waste to Landfill Platinum designation across all of its global manufacturing sites. This shows the Korean firm’s effort on sustainability and resource circularity.

Samsung achieves major sustainability milestone with platinum designation

As part of the Environmental Strategy introduced in 2022, Samsung has been steadily advancing its sustainable management practices. The goal is to turn waste from its factories into valuable resources and expand other recycling initiatives worldwide. Now, the recent Zero Waste to Landfill Platinum designation proves the company is on the right track toward its sustainability strategy.

Run by UL Solutions, a global safety science company, Zero Waste to Landfill is a program that determines the percentage of waste diverted from landfills. Based on a company’s efforts in reusing and recycling resources, the program gives one of three designations: Platinum for 100% landfill diversion, Gold for 95 to 99%, and Silver for 90 to 94%.

Speaking of its waste management strategy, Samsung has established several key directions. These include strengthening sorting systems, expanding reuse, and increasing resource recovery. In recent years, the company has improved waste separation at its factories while strengthening employee training to ensure thorough sorting.

For example, Samsung turns food waste and used paper into compost, while recycling general and construction waste into fuel or raw materials. Furthermore, the company repurposes e-waste and battery residues for solid fuel production. These efforts have helped the firm achieve its goal of Zero Waste to Landfill.

Samsung says that it continues to develop ways to recycle waste from semiconductor production. For example, the company reuses waste liquids in scrubbers (reduces air pollutants) and wastewater treatment facilities. Likewise, materials such as activated carbon and catalysts are regenerated and reused. In 2024, the firm recycled about 1.32 million tonnes of waste, equal to 260,000 five-tonne waste trucks.