Herald Media has made inroads into the environmentally friendly plastic recycling market as part of the media group’s ongoing efforts to expand its presence beyond its media business.

The group on Thursday held a ceremony celebrating the completion of a new factory of its new subsidiary Herald Ecochem in Gimpo, Gyeonggi Province, with some 30 executive officials in attendance.

Participants in the event included lawmaker Jungwook Hong, who is also the largest shareholder of Herald Media, CEO and publisher Lee Young-man and Ecochem chief executive Lee Seung-seop. 

The key business area of Herald Ecochem is the production of plastic films made from polyethylene resin or the reproduction of the by-products to make plastic fillets, officials said.

Plastic films are widely used across industries, with the market growing 5 percent every year on average since 2000.

The company said it has set a goal of achieving 3 billion won ($2.7 million) in sales this year, 30 billion won within three years and 50 billion won in five years.

“While securing its own growth as an eco-friendly company, Herald Ecochem will make efforts to contribute to local society by creating more jobs here,” said Lee, the chief executive.

Herald Ecochem is also the starting point of the group’s new management initiative of growing beyond its existing media business.

“Japan’s Yomiuri Group has continued to expand into diverse areas other than the media business. Through the synergy between the media business and other sectors, we can present a new business model for a media company and Herald Ecochem signals the very beginning,” said the publisher Lee.

By Lee Ji-yoon (jylee@heraldcorp.com)