Samsung Display to use waste glass in cement to erect new HQ

South Korea's Samsung Display will use recycled cement using waste glass from the display production process to build a new headquarters.

The company on Sunday announced the use of about 20,000 tons of cement using recycled glass waste in the construction set for completion in the second half of next year. The volume is equal to some 34% of the cement needed to build the structure.

The use of recycled glass waste has attracted corporate attention. The material is used in industrial fields such as display substrates but this is because of a shortage of the main raw material sand.

In 2008, Samsung Display began using recycled waste glass from the display production process in cement and raised the recycling rate to 100% in 2016. The cumulative volume of glass recycled by the company is near 245,000 tons.

“It takes around eight-tenths of a ton of sand to produce one ton of glass,” said Kang Seong-gwang, head of Samsung Display’s environmental protection center. “Two-hundred forty-five thousand tons is equivalent to recycling enough sand to make a sandy beach the size of Haeundae Beach in Busan.”

Write to Ye-Rin Choi at rambutan@hankyung.com