Samsung Electronics employees hold take-out food containers made with eco-friendly materials at the company's cafeteria in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province in this 2018 file photo. Courtesy of Samsung Electronics

By Baek Byung-yeul

Samsung Electronics will introduce a low-carbon diet at its in-company restaurants as part of the tech giant's New Environmental Strategy, a comprehensive effort to tackle climate change, according to the company, Sunday.

A low-carbon diet means food with low carbon emissions. The new diet policy aims to minimize greenhouse gases emitted during food production, packaging, processing, transportation, preparation and food waste.

Low-carbon diets have emerged as new lifestyle choices at a time when the world is making efforts to protect itself from the effects of climate change.

According to a 2021 study published in the journal Nature Food, it is estimated that agricultural emissions, which account for about 30 percent of greenhouse gas emissions in the world, could be reduced by two-thirds if people in 54 high-income countries switch their diet to healthier ones, which consist of small amounts of meat and large quantities of vegetables.

Starting in February, Samsung will launch PlanEat Choice, a food corner (in the cafeteria) comprised of low-carbon meals, at its headquarters in Suwon, Gyeonggi Province.

At the food corner, employees can choose carbon-diet meals such as rice with mushrooms, pesto pasta with "namul" or seasoned vegetables, rice with soybean paste and dumpling stew with mushrooms. The company said it recently held a tasting event for its new low-carbon meals.

Samsung's move is part of its New Environmental Strategy, announced in September 2022, with an aim to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.

By innovating technologies such as ultra-low power-consuming semiconductors, the company is now joining the movement to tackle the climate crisis.

Han Jong-hee, vice chairman of the company, said the company's DX Division, which supervises home appliances, TVs and smartphones will be able to achieve its carbon neutrality goal by 2030 while its chip production division is still aiming to realize the goal by 2050.

"The DX Division plans to achieve carbon neutrality by 2030," the vice chairman said during a press conference held on the sidelines of the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) at a hotel in Las Vegas, Jan. 6. "At this year's CES, we are showing how we pursue sustainability through eco-friendly products and technologies. Examples of these are recycled materials, the SolarCell Remote TV controller that uses sunlight or indoor lighting, and washing machines that reduce micro-plastics."

Samsung has also joined RE100, a global initiative dedicated to pursuing 100 percent renewable energy. As part of this commitment, Samsung aims to match the electric power needs of all international markets where it operates, outside of Korea, with renewable energy within a few years.

In addition to introducing the low-carbon diet, the company will replace every disposable product including containers for take-out purposes, spoons and coffee cups with "multi-usable" containers at its workplaces in Korea this year.