GS rolls up its sleeves on food waste recycling

GS announced Thursday that it held the "GS F.L.O.W Day" event at GS Tower in Gangnam-gu, Seoul, on Wednesday, co-hosted by GS Co., GS Ventures and the GreenTech Alliance.

The event was organized to share technology and business opportunities across the food waste recycling value chain and to explore potential collaboration. The GreenTech Alliance, an association under the Ministry of Climate, Environment and Energy, was established to foster the climate tech startup ecosystem.

Participants included GS, startups in food waste collection, treatment and recycling, venture capital firms and government officials. Attendees shared their business models and innovative technologies, and discussed ways to convert food waste into high-value resources as well as directions for investment and policy support.

Food waste has long been considered difficult to handle due to its high moisture content and tendency to decompose quickly. Recently, however, it has drawn attention as a resource that can be converted into biogas, feedstock for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), bioplastics and other chemical materials. The government is also pushing to recycle organic waste, including food waste. The Ministry of Climate, Environment and Energy shared its policy direction Wednesday for strengthening the resource circulation system by converting organic waste into biogas.

GS has proactively invested in domestic and international startups with technologies related to food waste recycling. Its portfolio includes Reco, which operates a waste collection management solution; Triple W, which extracts lactic acid from food waste for use as a raw material in plastics, detergents and cosmetics; and Alchemica, which provides solutions to improve the productivity of biogas production facilities.

In his opening remarks, Heo Jun-nyeong, executive vice president and head of GS Co.'s future business team, said food waste "can be transformed into a range of high-value resources — biogas, SAF feedstock, chemical materials — when combined with the right technology." He added that it "can only become a truly complete resource when the value chain, from discharge and collection through treatment, conversion and utilization, is seamlessly connected." He also said GS would "support market expansion alongside startups as a member of the ecosystem and a collaborative partner."

In his keynote address, Kim Geun-ho, chairman of the GreenTech Alliance, said proper sorting and disposal of food waste is "the key to realizing a circular economy." He stressed the importance of "developing South Korea's accumulated waste-sorting system, recycling infrastructure and operational experience into a K-Waste solution and spreading it to global markets."

Meanwhile, GS regularly holds GS Day events on a variety of themes, using them to promote exchange and cooperation among startups in future industries, investors and policy officials as part of its efforts to invigorate the venture ecosystem. GS Ventures previously held a "GS Ventures Synergy Day" to showcase the technological capabilities of startups it invested in last year.