Environmental Sustainability – Samsung in America

At Samsung, we are committed to innovating and designing energy-efficient products while minimizing our environmental impact.

By incorporating sustainability into our day-to-day business and operations and advancing toward a circular economy, we can not only alter Samsung’s environmental impact, but also help consumers to reduce their impact.

In 2018, Samsung Electronics announced plans to source renewable energy for 100% of the energy used for all of its factories, office buildings, and operational facilities in the United States, Europe and China by 2020. In 2019, 92% of the electricity used in our sites in the U.S., Europe, and China was generated using renewable energy, and we are on track to reach our goal in 2020.

As a result of our progress toward this goal, Samsung ranks in the top 10 of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Green Power Partnership National Top 100 list and Top 30 Tech and Telecom list. In 2019, Samsung was also recognized with the EPA’s Green Power leadership Award for Excellence in Green Power Use.

Samsung is recognized for innovative energy-efficient products. Samsung received the 2020 ENERGY STAR® Partner of the Year – Sustained Excellence Award from the U.S. EPA for continued leadership and superior contributions to the ENERGY STAR program. This is the 12th Partner of the Year award presented to Samsung and the 7th recognition for Sustained Excellence. ENERGY STAR products, as defined by the U.S. EPA, are the same or better than standard products, but use less energy.

To earn the ENERGY STAR mark, products must meet strict energy efficiency criteria set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

• Every washing machine assembled at our state-of-the-art facility in Newberry, SC is ENERGY STAR-certified.
• Beyond ENERGY STAR certification, Samsung’s products also have further distinctions (such as 33 Most Efficient 2019 designations).
• Since 2009, Samsung product efficiency improvements have helped our customers avoid an estimated 243 million tons of C02 emissions through the use of our products.

This year, EPA recognized Samsung with the 2020 ENERGY STAR Emerging Technology Award for Refrigerators with Advanced Adaptive Compressors.  EPA recognized the additional 25% energy savings available from refrigerators that are built with adaptive compressors.  Moreover, all refrigerators with these adaptive compressors also use a low-GWP refrigerant and blowing agent to further protect the environment. In 2016, Samsung was one of a few companies that won the ENERGY STAR Emerging Technology Award for Innovative Refrigerant Systems which means that Samsung has been on the cutting edge of innovation for refrigerators that protect the environment.  Samsung has also been an innovator in the dryer category and that is why in 2013, Samsung won the ENERGY STAR Emerging Technology Award for Advanced Clothes Dryers as a result of products with a significant reduction in energy use. According to the EPA, ENERGY STAR® Emerging Technology Award is given to innovative technologies that meet rigorous performance criteria to reduce energy use and lower greenhouse gas emissions, without sacrificing features or functionality.

As an E-Stewards Enterprise, we take steps to ensure that electronics are recycled safely and responsibly. As a result, Samsung has received the U.S. EPA’s Sustainable Materials Management Electronics Challenge Gold Tier Award for its leadership in e-waste collection and recycling every year since its inception in 2014.

• E-Waste: Globally, through 2019, we collected over 4 million tons of electronics and recycled the material responsibly, and we are aiming to collect and recycle 7.5 million tons of electronics globally by 2030.
• Recycled Plastics: Since 2009, we’ve reused over 220,000 tons of recycled plastics globally in our products, have taken steps to eliminate single-use plastics, and are on track to expand the accumulated amount of recycled plastics put back into our products to 500,000 tons by 2030.
• Packaging: Samsung has set a goal to help ensure that 100% of the paper used in our packaging conforms to international standards by requiring paper suppliers to submit certifications such as the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certification for paper products by the end of 2020.

Samsung 837, our flagship experiential space located in New York City, is an ENERGY STAR-certified building

Samsung supports continued government funding for ENERGY STAR, a program that uses voluntary market-based mechanisms to identify innovative, efficient products. The ENERGY STAR program is important to both inform consumers and recognize manufacturers for achieving greater efficiency in their products.
According to the U.S. EPA, since 1992, ENERGY STAR and its partners helped save American families and businesses nearly four trillion kilowatt-hours of electricity and achieve over three billion metric tons of greenhouse gas reductions, equivalent to the annual emissions of over 600 million cars.

Furthermore, ENERGY STAR says that the program and its partners helped Americans avoid $30 billion in energy costs in 2017.

The U.S. EPA notes that products that earn the ENERGY STAR label are independently certified to meet strict standards for energy efficiency. According the U.S. EPA, Americans purchased more than 300 million ENERGY STAR-certified products in 2017.  In fact, according to EPA’s estimates, an average of 800,000 ENERGY STAR-certified products were sold every day in 2017, bringing the total to more than six billion products sold since 1992.