On July 1, Hyundai Steel newly acquired GR (Good Recycled Product) certification from the Korean Agency for Technology and Standards (an affiliate of the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy) for its shaped steel and iron bar products, marking the first-ever case of GR certification in the steel industry.
Hyundai Steel is the first and largest electric furnace manufacturer in Korea and produces shaped steel and iron bar products using steel scraps as the main material. Steel scraps are environmentally-friendly materials that emit lower levels of CO2 and other wastes compared to other steel manufacturing materials, such as iron ore and coal. Hyundai Steel has received GR certification in recognition of its environmentally-friendliness of recycling large amounts of steel scraps.
The GR certification acquired by Hyundai Steel was first introduced in Korea in 1997 as part of a governmental certification system designed to increase demand for recycled products of outstanding quality, manufactured through the development of recycling technologies. By law, as the type of GR-certified product produced by Hyundai Steel must be purchased by public institutions and construction companies, it is expected that future sales of the product will increase significantly.
Hyundai Steel’s shaped steel and iron bar products also gained Environmental Product Declaration (EPD) certification from the Ministry of Environment of Korea and UL (Underwriters Laboratories) of the US, marking yet another first in the electric furnace industry. This certification recognizes the quantitative environmental influence of a product, throughout its entire life, from material extraction, production, and transportation/distribution to use and disposal. In the future, this certification system is expected to be increasingly applied, as major advanced countries around the world are beginning to require environmental certification for a variety of different products (as seen in the case of the “Buy Clean California Act,” passed in the US in 2020).
GR certification: Through this system, the Korean government certifies recycled products of outstanding quality that have been developed through green technology using recycled resources. The system seeks to improve customer trust and increase demand for recycled products by improving their overall quality.
Green products: These products minimize the use of energy resources, while reducing greenhouse gases and other pollutants. Top recycled products include ▷Korea Eco-Label products, ▷Good Recycled (GR) products, and ▷Low Carbon products (starting on July 30, 2020).
