The construction site of an apartment complex in southern Seoul. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Mar. 6 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korean companies are taking measures to keep fine dust from infiltrating into certain sensitive production facilities or to reduce their own emissions amid worsening dust pollution, industry sources said Wednesday.
Manufacturers of semiconductors, TVs and home appliances are stepping up efforts to keep their production facilities as clean as possible, since dust can cause havoc with quality control.
Samsung Electronics Co. and SK hynix Inc., for instance, only tolerate ultra-fine particles of less than 0.1 micrometer (PM0.1) in their key chip and screen production lines, an industry official said.
Construction companies said they have started to provide disposable masks to their workers and have reduced working hours according to the severity of fine dust warnings issued by the government.
Hyundai Engineering & Construction Co. plans to reduce working hours for construction workers by 50 percent at its construction sites if a fine dust warning is issued.
Shipbuilders, steelmakers and petrochemical firms said they have taken steps to help drive down fine dust produced by their facilities.
Hyundai Heavy Industries Co. plans to spend 420 billion won to reduce the fine dust it releases in the next five years and increase the ratio of environmentally friendly liquefied natural gas in fuel oil.
S-Oil Corp. and Hyundai Oilbank Co. said they will use more gas in their plants instead of crude oil in the case of a fine dust warning, the corporate sources said.
(Yonhap)
