Better Health for All

SK Hynix's core products, memory chips, are health-neutral, having no significant direct positive or negative health impact. The company's operations generate limited health-harming externalities, with a focus on reducing greenhouse gas emissions, air and water pollutants, and waste. However, greenhouse gas emissions increased by 12% in 2024 due to increased production volume.

The company provides health management programs for employees and suppliers, including health check-ups and smoking cessation clinics. It also offers mental well-being programs for employees, such as a mental well-being hub and EAP service. During the COVID-19 pandemic, SK Hynix provided prevention items to employees and suppliers.

Fair Money & Economic Opportunity

SK hynix Inc. is a semiconductor supplier, not a financial institution.

The company's core business does not involve lending, insuring, moving, or storing money for consumers. Therefore, all Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) under the 'Fair Money & Economic Opportunity' value, which are designed for financial service providers, are not applicable. The provided articles detail the company's ESG strategy, social contribution activities, and support for business partners, but these initiatives do not align with the specific definitions and quantitative thresholds of the KPIs, which focus on financial products, services, and customer financial outcomes.

Fair Pay & Worker Respect

No specific, quantitative data points for SK hynix Inc. (000660.KS) were found across the provided articles that directly map to the defined KPIs for Fair Pay & Worker Respect. While SK hynix has a "Human Rights & Labor Policy" covering wages, non-discrimination, and freedom of association, and reported a 100% resolution rate for grievances in 2023, these do not provide the specific metrics required by the rubric, such as living wage coverage, actual safety incident rate (TRIR), or pay equity ratios.

Information regarding a reduction in the integrated incidents rate by 1.8% in 2022 is a relative change, not an absolute rate. Data from pertains to LOTTE Chemical and is not applicable to SK hynix.

Fair Trade & Ethical Sourcing

Supply chain ESG evaluations are conducted for all suppliers once every two years.

In May 2022, it was confirmed that foreign workers at a supplier were working without a labor contract. In 2024, 31 suppliers were required to establish corrective action plans and completed their improvements within 12 months. However, 11 cases of transaction suspension (1-5 years) and 3 cases of permanent disqualification due to ethical management violations occurred in 2024. All suppliers are required to sign a Supplier Code of Conduct and Ethical Management Practice Agreement, but there is no evidence that all supplier contracts include enforceable ethical-sourcing clauses. As of the first half of 2024, 0.2% of 242 smelters were identified as high-risk through the Conflicted Affected and High-Risk Areas (CAHRAs) Index.

Honest & Fair Business

SK Hynix provides a grievance mechanism for employees and external stakeholders to report ethical violations via its SK Ethics Management website, phone, or email.

The company's Sustainability Committee deliberates on its Compliance Management system and activities, which include anti-corruption. However, the evidence does not detail the independence of investigation processes for whistleblowing or the frequency and effectiveness metrics of anti-corruption training.

Kind to Animals

SK Hynix, a semiconductor supplier, is not involved in animal testing operations, animal agriculture, or the use of animal-derived ingredients.

This is supported by a review indicating the company is not involved in controversial activities related to animal welfare. The company's core business model does not intersect with animal welfare policies, nor does it have R&D relevant to animal-free substitution or animal-related suppliers. Therefore, several KPIs are not applicable to its operations.

No War, No Weapons

SK Hynix's Responsible Minerals policy commits to eradicating human rights violations, labor exploitation, ecosystem damage, and environmental pollution from minerals sourced in conflict-affected and high-risk areas.

As of December 2021, 227 3TG smelters were 100% RMAP certified. Additionally, 1049 suppliers signed a pledge for responsible mineral sourcing as of June 2022. The company states it advocates for the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGP) in its Human Rights and Labor Policy, but a 2022 Corporate Human Rights Benchmark scores its overall UNGP alignment at 23.6 out of 100, indicating uneven implementation across divisions.

Planet-Friendly Business

SK Hynix's total Scope 1, 2, and 3 emissions were 11.3 million tCO2e in 2024.

The company has a net-zero target for all scopes by 2050. Its renewable electricity usage rate increased to 29.6% in 2022, with an interim target of 33% by 2030. All domestic facilities achieved 100% waste diversion from landfills in 2022, contributing to a company-wide recycling rate of approximately 96% of total waste. In 2023, 84% of 114 suppliers shared environmental data through the CDP Supply Chain Program. Additionally, 39 out of 47 ECO Alliance member companies set at least one target aligned with joint GHG reduction targets. SK Hynix supports achieving net-zero emissions by 2050 and has fully adopted TCFD, including climate scenario analysis for a 1.5°C climate change scenario. The company revised its biodiversity and forest conservation policies in March 2023, integrating biodiversity and forest degradation risks into its corporate risk management system.

Respect for Cultures & Communities

SK hynix has not reported any cultural appropriation incidents.

The company's operations do not appear to inherently impact cultural contexts, and no specific cultural impact assessment protocol is mentioned. While the company provides grievance mechanisms accessible to external stakeholders for human rights concerns, it does not disclose engagement with users on the design, implementation, or improvement of these mechanisms. Furthermore, 91% of companies in the benchmark, including SK hynix, did not disclose such engagement. FPIC processes are not applicable to the company's operations, and there is no evidence of disruptions to cultural or heritage sites.

Zero Waste & Sustainable Products

SK hynix recycled approximately 96% of its total waste in 2022, amounting to 565,206 tons across its domestic and overseas sites.

All domestic facilities achieved platinum Zero Waste to Landfill (ZWTL) certification in 2022, diverting 100% of waste from landfills. The company has implemented several waste reduction initiatives, including using Wafer Regeneration technology to reuse non-pattern wafers up to 100 times and developing technology to recycle CMP pads. They also received Circulation Resource certification for recycling discarded IC trays, nonferrous metals, synthetic resin, and electrical and electronic equipment. SK hynix has set a target to raise the proportion of recycled materials used in its products to 25% by 2025 and over 30% by 2030. Waste generated in operations accounted for 8% of its Scope 3 emissions in 2024.