Chunjae Textbooks, Chunjae Education expand ESG efforts with eco-friendly ink, teacher training

Chunjae Textbooks and Chunjae Education announced Friday that they are expanding their environmental, social and governance (ESG) activities, including eco-friendly textbook production and teacher education support.

Publishers and education companies are increasingly pursuing ESG initiatives tied to their core businesses — reducing the environmental burden of textbook production while broadening support for teachers and students. Chunjae Textbooks and Chunjae Education are widening the scope of their ESG efforts through greener printing processes, programs to strengthen teachers' digital skills and support for educationally underserved groups.

Chunjae Textbooks supports classroom skill development for both prospective and current teachers through its teaching and learning platform T Selpa. In April, the company held an educational technology road show at Gyeongin National University of Education's Gyeonggi campus for student teachers, giving participants hands-on experience with AI-based teaching materials, T Selpa lesson resources, Genia Tutor and ClassBoard.

In February, the company ran an AI digital lesson-material production workshop for working teachers, helping them design and create study notes and classroom management materials using digital authoring tools.

On the production side, the company is strengthening its eco-friendly printing infrastructure. Prinpia, an affiliate of Chunjae Textbooks, uses Forest Stewardship Council-certified paper and soy-based eco-friendly ink free of carcinogenic, mutagenic and reprotoxic substances.

The printing process also incorporates a non-toxic adhesive called Green Melt, chemical-free computer-to-plate technology and alcohol-free dampening solution. Through an in-house ESG committee, the company has set carbon reduction targets and begun measuring its carbon footprint.

The companies are also continuing social contribution activities for educationally underserved groups. From 2014 through 2024, Chunjae Education donated 20 million won ($14,300) worth of learning materials each year to Seoul St. Mary's Hospital, run by the Catholic Medical Center. The materials — covering everything from early childhood to high school level — helped children undergoing long-term treatment keep up with their studies.

The company also runs a volunteer tutoring corps in which employees participate directly. Launched in 2014, the corps has provided continuous learning support for long-term pediatric patients at Seoul St. Mary's Hospital Children's School, with only a brief interruption during the COVID-19 pandemic. This year marks the 14th cohort of the tutoring corps.

"The value of ESG for an education company truly shines when it provides real, practical help to students, teachers and schools," a Chunjae Textbooks official said. "We will continue contributing to a sustainable educational environment through expanded eco-friendly production infrastructure, teacher support and sincere activities for those who are underserved in education."