Take-back & Recycling

Recycling end-of-life products is very important if we are to save resources and minimize waste generation.

Global Take-Back Policy

As you are no doubt already aware, the enforcement of the EU WEEE Directive has accelerated the expansion of end-of-life product take-back regulations throughout the world. At present, many governments in various regions are trying to finalize their own take-back legislation. LG Electronics has been involved in the process of establishing such legislation and has supported the introduction of take-back systems that are economically viable.

While legal compliance is the most important consideration of the take-back policy, LG Electronics believes that simply complying with the (limited) existing take-back regulations is not enough.

While collective recycling schemes that were developed to respect the take-back regulations have achieved considerable environmental benefits at a reasonable cost, they do not provide direct eco-design incentives for individual manufacturers. Take-back systems based on the individual producers' responsibilities may provide such incentives. LG Electronics supports the introduction of Individual Producer Responsibility (IPR) for future wastes and hopes that technically and economically feasible identification solutions will become available in the near future. Furthermore, LG Electronics has been promoting IPR through active participation in IPR related public forums held by digital technology associations such as Digital Europe. LG Electronics is in the process of becoming a member of IPR Works, a NGO and industry alliance dedicated to advancing IPR.

In addition, LG Electronics is considering to provide voluntary take-back for more product types and in more non-OECD member countries. For example, LG Electronics is positively considering and reviewing India’s draft bill for E-Waste Rules, which is similar to European Union (EU) directives on Waste of Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE).

LGE will keep investigating various ways to incorporate eco-design incentives into global take-back systems.

Guidance on the Disposal of End-of-Life Products

Consumers could contribute to resource conservation and prevent potential environmental problems by a simple action — the proper depositing of old electrical appliances. Electronic waste must be collected separately from the general waste stream via designated collection facilities appointed by the government or the local authorities. Since the manner in which separate collection is arranged may differ according to the municipality, information for users, such as the address, phone number, opening hours of the waste collection point, and so on, can be found in your town's guide or on its website, or via a waste disposal service company or stores. LG Electronics provides all users with links to sources of take-back information in various countries and regions on our website.

Recycled Plastic Applications

LG Electronics encourages the use of recycled plastics in order to reduce the amount of waste generated during product development and manufacturing, and to minimize the waste of resources. It is trying to increase the use of recycled plastic across the corporation and aim to use recycled plastic across all products. As a result, the use of recycled plastics (post industrial plastic) across all LGE products is approximately 11%.

We fully support the future use of post-consumer recycled plastics in manufacturing products. This will reduce the amount of the final waste and increase resource use efficiency. We have also been putting a great deal of effort into our R&D to increase the quality, remove hazardous substances, and increase product reliability.

We applied post-consumer recycled plastics for some parts & material in 2008. Step by step We enhance application of post-consumer recycled plastics for our products.

We plan to increase the percentage of our usage of recycled plastics up to 25% of our entire plastic use by 2025 through a series of activities and efforts.

Take-Back & Recycling Status by Region and Product:
Korea, Europe, North America, Asia/Oceania
Take-Back & Recycling Amounts
Mobile Phone Voluntary Take-Back

LG's National Take-back Recycling Program

Teaming up with WM, we've built a recycling program that makes it easy to dispose of electronics in an environmentally safe way. Bring your unwanted LG products to any participating Waste Management eCycling drop-off center and recycle it for free.

LG Electronics held a voluntary take-back collection event in the USA (Chicago (Illinois), Dallas(Texas)) and plan to expand the area.

For more information, click here. http://www.lge.com/us/green