Human life has developed dramatically through the three industrial revolutions. However, there is one thing we overlooked in this process - Mother Nature. The more convenient our lives, the sicker the earth became. As energy consumed, the Earth's surface temperature continued to rise, and natural disasters caused by extreme weather began to increase; And it is getting worse. A revolution for our convenience is returning as a threat to us.
However, the fourth industrial revolution is developing in a different direction than before. This time, we are preparing for the next era for both Earth and humanity. Companies have also started to act around the environment, and even social contribution activities are reflecting this consciousness. Hyundai Motor Company's "Hyundai Continue" project is one such example.
Hyundai Continue is a Creating Shared Value (CSV) activity that creates new value by satisfying the interests of consumers, local communities, and the company, away from the current method of returning a portion of profits to society. ‘Progress for Humanity’ is a project that integrates CSV activities currently in progress or scheduled to be conducted in major regions around the world for more active and systematic CSV activities. Here are the details of the Hyundai Continue for the sustainable development of both the environment and humanity.
Hyundai Motor is transforming to become a future mobility solution company amid the huge 4th industrial revolution, and this automaker is putting all its capabilities into a sustainable future and growth. One of them is the Hyundai Continue Project, which aims to create powerful shared values and build a sustainable corporate ecosystem.
To achieve this, Hyundai Motor Company is carrying out activities suitable for each area both inside and outside Korea, taking eco-friendliness, mobility, and future generations as its three pillars. Following the brand vision of “Progress for Humanity,” the goal is to connect the earth and people, society and the minority, and the next generation and the future - through technology.
The Hyundai Continue Project has three main pillars. The first is ‘Continue Earth’, an eco-friendly area, which encompasses various efforts and activities of Hyundai Motor for the coexistence of the earth and people. Specifically, from 2021, Hyundai Motor has been carrying out upcycling activities in Europe to preserve marine ecosystems—for example, recycling collected waste nets to make car floor mats. Starting this year, the company is also expanding this activity, collecting and upcycling waste plastics in cities in Indonesia, and in Latin America will help restore the Brazilian rainforest. In Korea, under the name of 'IONIQ Forest', the automaker has been planting trees from elementary school classrooms to forests, and has continued activities to preserve biodiversity in Ulsan.
The second, ‘Continue Mobility’, means activities and efforts for free movement and connection. Hyundai Motor is helping patients who have suffered a traffic accident to drive again by using a virtual driving simulator in Korea. In addition, the company plans to launch new activities to support the mobility of the weak using mobility-on-demand. In addition, Hyundai provided car-sharing services in rural areas where public transportation was scarce by using its eco-friendly electric vehicle, the Kona EV in Spain, and plans to support food banks through Hyundai Motor Mobility in underprivileged areas in the Middle East.
Finally, 'continue hope' refers to efforts for future generations. Hyundai Motor Company has been supporting pediatric cancer research since 1998 under the name of ‘Hope on Wheels’ in North America. Also in India, the company, through its H-Social Creator program, is working with college students in India to gather ideas to inspire social innovation. In Korea, the H-Mobility Class is being operated for university and graduate students to educate future automobile-related technologies. In addition, H-Jump School, a college student volunteer group, is working hard to educate underprivileged youth.
Among Hyundai Continue projects, people around the world will naturally be most interested in Continue Earth, which deals with various efforts and activities for the environment, and for this reason, Hyundai Motor Company recently released a video called 'The Journey of PET'. The video begins by showing an alley in New York on a rainy day in 1973. While jazz is played as background music, the video shows a trash can that doesn't match it at all, and then focuses on a plastic water bottle standing next to it.
Now the video shows Beijing in 1975. A bicycle stepped on the plastic bucket in New York earlier, and a pedestrian accidentally kicked it. Next is Barcelona in 1984. A child is playing around the alley kicking a crushed plastic water bottle instead of a ball. The child kicks a plastic water bottle into a bucket of yellow paint, and then the bottle floats in the sea.
And the plastic bottle introduces itself; He says his name is 'PET' and has been drifting along the currents for 48 years. PET is pushed up to the beach by the waves and then floats back to the sea over and over again. After floating in the sea for a while, PET meets Lon, another plastic bottle tied to a rock with a waste net. It turns out that in the past, they were dumped side by side next to a trash can in an alley in New York. However, the reunion after 10 years is short-lived; The waves hit the rocks and the PET is washed away again into the sea. PET thought he would be floating on the open sea for the rest of his life, but at last, he meets a girl at a river. The girl straightens the PET again, pours stream water into it, puts a flower, and puts it in the car's cup holder. PET, which never rots and pollutes the sea, is finally recycled.
Then, from somewhere a familiar voice calls him - Lon, whom he had met on a rock in the middle of the sea. However, Lon is nowhere to be seen, and only a blue light flashes from the inside of the door armrest. He is now part of the car. Lon says that shortly after PET had left, divers appeared and took him out of the net and sent him somewhere, and when he opened his eyes he was part of a car. While PET was wandering the ocean and found by a girl, Lon had been upcycled, gaining new values. The 3 minutes and 3 seconds-long video, The Journey of PET, shows the reality of marine pollution caused by waste plastics, and presents examples of recycling and upcycling of waste plastics in a delightful way. In particular, it clearly shows an example that waste plastic can also be used as an eco-friendly interior material for automobiles. As part of Continue Earth, Hyundai Motor Company's marine waste net and plastic waste upcycling activities have been carried out in Europe from 2021, and this year it will be conducted in Indonesia.
With the unveiling of the IONIQ 5, Hyundai Motor began its voyage to become a leader in the eco-friendly mobility market. The IONIQ 5 is the first work that showcases Hyundai's design and technology for future electric vehicles. The company uses E-GMP (Electric-Global Modular Platform), a platform dedicated to electric vehicles, to provide innovative experiences to customers in many areas, including design and cabin space. This is the reason why many organizations and media around the world have called the IONIQ 5 an innovative mobility that will lead the electric vehicle era since its release. In particular, the cabin filled with eco-friendly elements makes the IONIQ 5 even more special.
Lon, who went through upcycling in ‘The Journey of PET’, was born again in IONIQ 5. PET (Polyethylene Terephthalate) fiber made from recycled plastic bottles was used for the door armrests and seat covers of the IONIQ 5. PET is often used as a material for plastic water bottles, called PET bottles, and can also be used as a fiber by polymerizing with other substances or changing its properties through chemical reactions. Bio-PET fibers derived from sugar cane and corn were used for headlining, seat covers, floor mats, and floor carpets, and paints containing bio ingredients derived from rape flowers and corn were used for door and crash pads. Papertte used for door garnish is high-density polyethylene (HDPE) that can be reused and recycled. It is a non-toxic, eco-friendly plastic that is also used as a material for food containers and children's toys. This is a material considering eco-friendliness in the manufacturing process, and the is the first in the world to use papertte for a car garnish.
A future that does not sacrifice Earth is a task for mankind, and it is our responsibility for all living things on the earth. Anyone can come up with the idea of creating a sustainable world, but it is very different from putting it into action. Hyundai Motor plans to continue various CSV activities for eco-friendliness, mobility, and future generations through the Hyundai Continue Project.
HMG Journal Operation Team
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