LG: Thriving on green technology for innovative product development By Maureen Kemunto (Guest post)

World over, the green economy conversations have been going on, from the top echelons of government to the corporate sector. For a longtime, it was a futuristic conversation that was limited to certain levels but with the eminent global warming, the conversation has moved from now.

Many are the times when global brands have been accused not preaching about it but backtracking on the green initiatives in their day to day lives. This conversation have been driven by our global economy that is highly hinged on manufacturing, from automotive, food production and ICT that has revolutionized the way we do business not only in Africa but the entire universe.

But then again what’s all the fuss about the green economy. The green economy is defined as an economy that results in reducing environmental risks and ecological scarcities, and that aims for sustainable development without degrading the environment.

From a technical perspective, the Green technology helps protect the environment: the less energy required to operate consumer tech products, the less energy we need to generate at power plants. This in turn reduces greenhouse gas emissions and fights climate change.

As our lives are more and more integrated with our electronic and mobile devices, it is increasingly important to think about the resources those devices are using. Many manufacturers are moving towards more sustainable and greener products.

As an environmentally conscious brand, Electronic giants, LG have been at the forefront in supporting this noble initiative both from a production and distribution perspective. From conserving energy and water in its manufacturing processes and reducing packaging materials to advancing technology that significantly reduces the amount of energy LG products require to operate and designing for recyclability.

The electronics giant efforts have not gone in vain; recently, the eco-friendly LG OLED TV became the first TV in the world to achieve the UL GreenGuard Gold certification. The evaluation was done by UL Environment, a division of the global safety science company UL that focuses on environmental impact of electronic products. This certification is likely to set precedence for TV manufacturers to create improved indoor environments by reducing chemical product emissions as well as coming up with timeless designs for their products.

Without a doubt, Sustainability remains a core business principle at LG, and we will continue to push the boundaries when it comes to addressing the environmental impact of our products. The International Energy Agency has predicted that energy used by consumer electronics and computers will double by 2022 and increase threefold by 2030. This means that we are continuing to focus on meeting the growing demand for electronic devices and home appliances while minimizing the energy needed to power those products.

The writer is the Marketing & Corporate communications Manager at LG Electronics E.A