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.

Recycling Mobile Phones

Many customers might think that end-of-life mobile phones are worthless, but they still contain many reusable or recyclable materials. This means that leaving old phones in your desk drawer is a huge waste of valuable resources. Let's see how all parts of mobile phone could be recycled*.

1) Valuable metals are used as component materials for the circuit board, LCD module, and camera module.
2) During the smelting process, valuable metals such as gold, silver, and copper can be retrieved from these electronic parts
3) The metals that are retrieved can be used for new electronic parts or can be sold separately on their own.

1) Plastic materials are used for structural components such as the case and cover.
2) The plastic materials that have been collected are recycled as energy resources after going through a heat recovery process. Alternatively ,they can be used as a form of recycled plastic once they have been broken down and processed.
3) Recycled plastic can be used to produce products such as traffic cones, plastic fencing, and car bumpers.

1) It is important to collect batteries separately, given the variety of batteries that are used. Li-Ion batteries are frequently used in mobile phones.
2) Cobalt can be collected once the batteries have been pretreated to avoid the risk of explosion during the recycling process.
3) It is possible to sell the cobalt that is collected or use it as a raw material for products such as padlocks and speakers.

1) Paper is the main component used in packaging.
2) Paper can be recycled.
3) It is then used as recycled paper or in products made of paper .

*the above usages are only suggestive and may not necessarily mean about the current usage

This initiative is a voluntary effort by us towards the first step towards a cleaner and greener earth. This move is one of the ways to show that we are concerned and thus we request all our customers to join this movement to make it successful by way of contributing their used handsets.

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.

Furthermore, LG open individual web-site of recycling program in the USA to provide consumers with a free and convenient way of recycling their used, unwanted or obsolete LG consumer electronic products.
( http://www.lgrecyclingprogram.com )

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.lgrecyclingprogram.com