Korea Zinc's sustainability report wins gold at 2026 Galaxy Awards

Korea Zinc announced Monday that its 2025 Sustainability Report won gold in the sustainability report — Korea category within the online annual report division at the 2026 Galaxy Awards, an international public relations and marketing competition.

The Galaxy Awards is a global competition organized by Mercomm, a US-based communications specialist. Experts in the communications field from around the world evaluate entries on creativity, quality of execution and communication effectiveness, selecting winners across 15 categories in total.

The key judging criteria are the use of visual elements, information delivery and overall quality of execution. Entries are assessed on whether they clearly convey a company's identity, build credibility and are structured so that stakeholders can easily access and effectively understand the information they need.

This year, 262 entries from 13 countries were submitted, with 21 organizations participating in the judging process. Objectivity and fairness were ensured through three rounds of individual evaluation and blind review.

Korea Zinc's report covers the company's ESG (environmental, social and governance) performance and the vision and strategy behind its push to become a clean energy and materials company. It also systematically presents key achievements across all three ESG pillars. The report is structured around five material issues identified through a double materiality assessment — safety and health management, climate change response, ethics and compliance, pollution and hazardous substance management, and resource circulation and waste management — making it easy for stakeholders to see how sustainability challenges connect to the company's future growth strategy.

Korea Zinc also used imagery reflecting its identity as a metal smelting company on the report's cover and section divider pages. The report balances narrative messaging with quantitative indicators, while detailed data is provided separately in an appendix to improve the readability and accessibility of core information.

Judges gave high marks to the report's visual quality and effectiveness in conveying information. The company said the report earned recognition for its professionalism and polish through clear, easy-to-read charts, a reader-friendly design and crisp, clean illustrations.

"We strive to ensure that stakeholders can easily and clearly understand Korea Zinc's ESG performance and future growth direction through our sustainability report, and we believe this award reflects that effort," a Korea Zinc official said. "Going forward, we will continue to strengthen our sustainability management capabilities while transparently disclosing our achievements and challenges through the report, deepening trust-based communication with our stakeholders."

Meanwhile, Korea Zinc has been carrying out a range of corporate social responsibility activities, including a recent volunteer farming event at Purme Social Farm in Yeoju, Gyeonggi Province, where employees from its affiliates helped with farm work.