Hana Financial chief joins campaign to limit plastic use

Hana Financial Group Chairman Ham Young-joo joined the Bye Bye Plastic Challenge, a social media campaign to reduce plastic consumption.

Hana Financial Group Chairman Ham Young-joo poses for a photo for the Ministry of Environment's Bye Bye Plastic Challenge campaign. [HANA FINANCIAL GROUP]

Hana Financial Group Chairman Ham Young-joo joined an environmental campaign to cut plastic consumption, the firm said Wednesday.

The Bye Bye Plastic Challenge is a social media campaign led by the Ministry of Environment that kicked off in August last year. The campaign aims to encourage people not to use single-use plastics in their daily lives, such as plastic straws, cutlery and containers for food delivery.

Ham posted a photo of himself holding a tumbler on the company’s social media page, after Community Chest of Korea Chairman Kim Byong-joon recommended the Hana chief to join the campaign. The next participant, as named by Ham, is Global Sae-A Group Chairman Kim Woong-ki.

Ham also discussed the importance of daily effort to cut plastic consumption with Hana Financial Group employees at the firm’s headquarters in Jung District, central Seoul.

“I hope everyone will be able to make a good habit of using less plastic through this campaign,” Ham said, and promised that “Hana Financial Group will lead the way on various corporate ESG [environmental, social and governance] activities to create a sustainable future and social values.”

The company has been running various environmental campaigns since 2021, encouraging tumbler usage, saving electricity in its office buildings and donating old clothes.

BY SHIN HA-NEE [shin.hanee@joongang.co.kr]