Established in 1945, leading cosmetics company AmorePacific has contributed to society in a number of ways, such as joining the U.N. Global Compact in 2007, which strives to uphold principles regarding human rights, labor environment and anticorruption, and holding various campaigns to raise awareness on social issues.

AmorePacific carries out the Pink Ribbon Campaign through its nonprofit organization Korean Breast Cancer Foundation, set up in 2000. The foundation runs an annual Pink Ribbon Love Marathon to raise awareness of breast cancer.

From 2001 to 2014, the campaign raised 2.6 billion won in donations, supporting the medical expenses of 780 low-income patients and campaigns on breast cancer checkups.

This year’s Pink Ribbon Love Marathon will take place in five cities, starting with Busan on April 26 and ending with Seoul on Oct. 18.

The GREENCYCLE campaign involves recycling and upcycling materials used in cosmetics.

The campaign was inspired by Innisfree’s recycling event in 2009, which urged customers to return empty cosmetics containers in exchange for membership points, a campaign that has since expanded to other AmorePacific brands.

AmorePacific stated that it has recycled over 431 tons of containers since 2009, and reduced around 456 tons of carbon dioxide, the equivalent of planting 4,107 pine trees.

By Sang Youn-joo (sangyj@heraldcorp.com)