ESG in Action
The world has a plastic problem. This was the clear realization that drove Konrad Becker and his three co-founders in 2021 to establish Would You Love (WYL), a Seoul-based startup with a mission to make the world more sustainable. Motivated by reports that Korea was responsible for some of the world’s highest levels of plastic waste per capita, the WYL team set out to make plastic itself part of the solution by recycling it and turning it into premium products.
While the Korean government has taken steps in recent years to reduce waste and improve the rate of recycling, high demand for disposable products during the COVID-19 pandemic has worked against efforts to cut single-use plastics. For example, people in Korea used 57% more disposable plastic cups in 2020 compared with 2017 - 5.3 billion cups in total in that first year of the pandemic alone and enough to stack up to the Moon and halfway back, according to a recently published report by Greenpeace Korea and researchers at Chungnam National University (CNU). Moreover, this does not account for many more discarded plastic bottles, bags, and food containers. Even as the pandemic wanes, the CNU researchers projected that 1.5 times more plastic waste will be produced in 2030 compared with 2020, and found Korea's plastic waste recycling rate to be just 16.4% in 2021.
It was against this backdrop that Becker, originally from Germany, shared WYL's story on Wednesday at Dulwich College Seoul (DCSL). The international school invited him for its latest “Dulwich Talk,” in honor of Earth Day 2023.
“None of us were specialists when we started,” Becker admitted to a packed auditorium filled with students from various year groups. “But we were passionate and willing to learn.” The WYL team spent their first year figuring out how they would recycle plastic and use it as a material to make furniture. Funded by savings, they used open source instructions to make the machinery they needed. After learning how to melt down and process plastic waste such as bottle caps, they experimented until they had mastered the colorful, marble-like pattern designs that have become the signature of their work.
They soon marketed their recycled plastic furniture and other building materials to other businesses. They realized the higher cost of upcycled furniture would make it more financially viable to sell to businesses rather than direct to consumers. “Recycled plastic is more expensive,” Becker said as the crowd of students gasped when he told them one chair made from recycled plastic would cost around 600,000 won ($450).
Still, WYL is scaling up, recently opening a new workshop north of Seoul in Paju. Having expanded their workforce to seven members, they are pioneers in a space where their only competitors are similar bands of craftspeople.
One student audience member addressed the issue of what we can all do as individuals. It is a pertinent question that the school has embraced beyond Earth Day, making sure that the concepts of sustainability and global citizenship lie at the heart of its identity. Led by the UN Sustainable Development Goals, DCSL students have already been working to reduce single-use plastics such as the packaging used for morning snacks, as well as banning plastic knives and glitter that had contributed to the harmful environmental impact of microplastics. They have also engaged in trash-cleaning missions by "plogging" (picking up trash while jogging) along the Han River, fundraised for Greenpeace, and given up meat on Mondays. Still, fighting for the environment can be disheartening.
Becker had some pointers for students. “There are several things you can do,” he said. “One, try to learn about what’s going on because it’s easy to get frustrated and cynical, and question what just one person can do. The second thing is to think about what sustainability means for you. Ask yourself, can we do this particular behavior forever? What will happen if we continue? Thirdly, we live in a time where we have access to mass media and there are ways to spread information that we didn’t have before. These can be used to forward the cause.”
Social media has also been a useful marketing tool for WYL, as Becker said that they have become relatively well known through Instagram and word of mouth. It has additionally been very helpful to be recognized for its meaningful efforts to protect the environment, having been listed on Precious Plastic Seoul, the Korean chapter of a global online community that seeks to facilitate the upcycling of plastic using machines, starter kits that include blueprints to replicate the work. Within two years, WYL has earned sales and gained funding from both public and private sectors.
The success of companies like WYL demonstrates that profitability is possible while keeping ESG values at the heart of a business. Engaging younger generations is also vital, and WYL has invited DCSL students to visit one of their workshops this June. This year’s Earth Day theme was “Invest in Our Planet.” WYL has been doing exactly that, while also taking time to invest in themselves and others who are ready to join them in taking positive action to combat our climate crisis.