CJ Logistics

CJ Logistics has signed a multilateral public-private agreement with the Ministry of Environment for a Pilot Project for Resource Circulation Using Disposed PET Bottles from Hotels.

CJ Logistics, the global SCM innovator, will build an environmentally friendly, circular logistics system in collaboration with the Ministry of Environment.

CJ Logistics to collect an average of 15,000 transparent PET bottles discarded by participating hotels monthly with the company's nationwide logistics network.

On November 3, CJ Logistics announced that they have signed an agreement with 12 government agencies, including the Ministry of Environment, for a Pilot Project for Resource Circulation Using Disposed PET Bottles from Hotels. The agreement intends to create a resource circulation model, based on which the company will collect high-quality transparent PET bottles from hotels and resorts through the logistics network to recycle them.

To that end, CJ Logistics introduced an eco-friendly circulation logistics system that collects transparent PET bottles from participating hotels. Once they have amassed a certain number of bottles in their recycle boxes, they then request CJ Logistics to haul them off. Upon receiving said request, CJ Logistics delivery drivers will pick up the boxes and transport them to sorting areas of RM, a recycling company based in Osan, Gyeonggi-do, through a nationwide courier network. The system not only takes advantage of the existing infrastructure with a national coverage at low cost, but hotels can also get rid of PET bottles at any time, which used to be discarded only on a monthly or weekly basis.

RM will be responsible for the recycling process, which includes cleaning of the bottles that have been carried to their sorting centers, and transforming them into pellets, which are then made into new plastic containers. This bottle-to-bottle technology, which recycles PET bottles as PET bottles, can address shortcomings of the existing recycling method, where PET bottles are discarded when they are recycled into other types of plastic containers. The recycled containers will be made into a Green Limited Edition product by Aromatica, a beauty & lifestyle brand. Profits made from Aromatica will be donated to CJ Donors Camp to fund the contest for nature-friendly ideas.

Transparent PET bottles are recycled into containers for limited edition products with the entire earnings to be donated.

CJ Logistics and the Ministry of Environment forecast that they will be able to collect over 340,000 high-quality transparent PET bottles monthly through the nature-friendly logistics system for resource circulation. About 15,000 bottles or 300kg of plastic can be collected from a single hotel with 200 rooms. So far, eight hotels, including The Westin Josun Seoul, Four Points Josun at Seoul Station and Myeongdong, Seoul Dragon City Hotel, Conrad Seoul Hotel, Haesley Nine Bridges at Yeoju, Grand Inter Continental Seoul Parnas, InterContinental COEX have been confirmed as participating, and CJ looks forward to enlist more hotels in the future.

To help build the sustainable resource circulation logistics system, the Ministry of Environment has applied an exception to the Waste Management Act through the Active Administrative Deliberation Committee, and temporarily allowed CJ Logistic to carry transparent PET bottles during the period of the pilot project. Under the Waste Management Act, only waste removal companies have been able to transport discarded PET bottles using the approved vehicles.

A CJ Logistics representative said, “Efficient collection of raw materials is where the resource circulation economy starts. CJ Logistics will leverage our unparalleled logistics network as the top SCM company in the nation to make this pilot project a success and expand the scope of our ESG management.”