LG Display’s latest OLED and transparent OLED TV panels have grabbed yet more awards, receiving eco-friendly certifications from two of the world’s most prominent global verification institutions.
The new awards come in recognition of the fact that LG Display has managed to further reduce the use of plastic in its panels, while increasing the amount of recycled materials.
The first comes from UL Solutions, an independent safety science organization, which granted LG’s OLED TV and gaming panels a “Low Plastic Content” certification after it successfully reduced the amount of plastic used in their manufacture to less than 5% of their overall weight.
LG Display said this achievement is an industry first, with the plastic in its latest OLED panels accounting for just 4% of the product’s total weight. According to the company, that means they have approximately 90% less plastic than conventional LCD displays of the same size.
The company explained that OLED is much more suitable for reducing the amount of plastic used, because their self-emissive nature allows it to minimize the use of film sheets, which are largely made of plastic. In addition, the company has replaced some parts of its panels that were previously made from plastic with recyclable materials. It says 92.7% of the materials used in its latest OLED displays can now be recycled. LG Display has been making efforts to reduce its use of plastic since 2021.
It’s not just the lack of plastic that’s helping to boost the environment, though. For LG Display said its META Technology 2.0-based panels are able to maximize light emission from the individual OLED pixels, meaning they are 22% more energy efficient than previous-generation OLED, resulting in less energy consumption and fewer carbon emissions from their use.
As for LG Display’s transparent OLED panels, they were recently bestowed with the “Eco-Product Certification Mark” by the Switzerland-based inspection, verification, testing and certification institute SGS.
The honor is only granted to those products that comply with global environmental regulations and meet a strict eco-friendly evaluation criteria that addresses the entire product lifecycle, from manufacturing to consumer use to disposal. LG Display said this is another industry-first, as no transparent OLED panel has ever been designated as eco-friendly before.
According to the company, SGS gave its transparent OLED panels exceptionally high scores in terms of resource efficiency, energy efficiency and the minimization of harmful substances. It said 23% of the materials used in its manufacture are recycled. While that’s not as impressive as the company’s traditional OLED panels, it does adhere to the EU’s REACH regulations on chemical substance management. That’s because LG has refrained from using any of the more than 200 types of substances designated as “high-risk” by REACH.
LG Display said the new awards validate an initiative that it launched back in 2021 to try and develop the most eco-friendly products in the display making industry. The company has implemented a lifecycle evaluation strategy wherein it comprehensively evaluates all of the environmental impacts of its products throughout their lifetime. By adhering to this approach, it has managed to identify and eliminate the use of plastics and harmful materials and substances in its products, while minimizing greenhouse gas emissions. At the same time, it has made significant strides in terms of energy efficiency during both manufacturing and consumption, as well as waste reduction.
Today's awards come after LG Display was granted a "Product Carbon Footprint Certification" by the Carbon Trust in 2023, due to its low carbon emissions. Previously, LG Display’s OLED panels have also landed awards for their low blue light levels, making them less harmful to the human eye than other types of display technology.
LG Display said it hopes to build upon these achievements in the future, according to a roadmap it has established that will see it further reduce the power consumption of its OLED displays in both the mid- and long-term. It’s also working on the development of low-carbon OLED technology processes and component-reduction techniques.
In other words, the company is “committed to proactively advancing environmental-friendly OLED development in response to ESG trends, while simultaneously actively promoting the technological excellence of LG Display's OLED panels,” said Min-kyu Jin, head of the Large Display Promotion Division at LG Display.
