SK's Environmental Management System (EMS) went into full orbit in 1996, centering on the Ulsan Complex to start with. Since then SK has acquired ISO 14001 certification from the Korean Foundation for Quality (KFQ). The company reacquired the certification when the validity date expired in November 1999 and is still strictly following its quality standards. Its good environmental protection through ISO 14001 resulted in designation of the company as an "Environmental Friendly Company" by the Ministry of Environment in May 1996 and again in December 1997 and May 2000, testimony to the excellence of SK's environmental solutions.

ISO 14001 gives the environmental management of a corporation the approval of an authoritative third party to, which scrutinizes the corporation's entire business processes from manufacturing, through delivery, to disposal. Besides assuring the public of the superiority of the corporation's environmental management, internally the certification becomes a vehicle for encouraging the corporation to raise its environmental management to a higher level.

As part of speeding up the advancement of the environmental management of the community and helping protect the nature we live in together, SK joined in the Environmental Performance Evaluation (EPE) and LCA projects that are co-managed by the Korea Accreditation Board (KAB) and the Ministry of Commerce, Industry & Energy.