Cleanzine: your weekly cleaning and hygiene industry newsletter 13th March 2025 Issue no. 1153
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SK Chemicals to establish waste plastic recycling innovation centre in Korea
SK Chemicals, which claims to be the first company in the world to successfully mass-produce chemically recycled materials, has embarked on establishing a comprehensive plastic recycling solution centre in Korea. This centre will encompass the production of circular recyclable raw materials, demonstration research and material production.
The company will establish a Recycle Innovation Centre (RIC) at its Ulsan plant where eco-friendly chemical materials are produced. It will invest in new pilot facilities for the chemical decomposition of waste plastics to produce recycled BHET (r-BHET), linking them with existing commercial co-polyester production facilities.
This marks SK Chemicals' first depolymerisation technology-based recycling centre in Korea.
The newly constructed facility will produce recyclable plastic raw materials (r-BHET) from waste plastics. This facility will validate commercialisation technology for various types of low-quality waste plastics that were previously difficult to recycle using conventional methods, expanding beyond typical transparent bottles to include fibres, films, and automotive parts. In particular, the recycling of textiles is known to be highly challenging field due to the diverse forms and types of materials mixed in a single garment. This includes not only polyester yarn but also other fibres such as cotton, as well as various accessories such as buttons.
The facility is scheduled to begin operations in 2026 with an annual production capacity of 50 tons. BHET(r-BHET), an intermediate raw material for polyester-based materials such as PET and copolyester, is integral to SK Chemicals' chemical recycling technology.
With the construction of the RIC, SK Chemicals will establish an integrated research and production system at its Ulsan plant, covering everything from circular recycled raw materials (r-BHET) to circular recycled materials. All processes from depolymerisation to demonstration research, polymerisation and mass production will be organically integrated at one location. This is supported by a polymerisation pilot that produces a circular recycled PET and a commercial production facility capable of mass-producing circular recycled co-polyester.
"Since different industries such as automotive, electronics and fashion have varying types of waste plastics and require different plastic qualities and properties, it is crucial to have the technology and capability to quickly validate and commercialise depolymerisation and material production processes tailored to each industry,” says the company. “With the establishment of the RIC, we will be able to provide faster and more flexible solutions to the complex challenges demanded by various industries based on our foundational technology."
Completion of RIC is expected to accelerate implementation of SK chemicals' Closed Loop solution. Closed Loop refers to a complete circulation system where waste plastics previously destined for landfills or incineration are subjected to collection, crushing, cleaning, depolymerisation and polymerisation to be reproduced in a form identical to petroleum-based plastics, which are then used to manufacture products such as electronics and beverage containers.
While recycled plastics from collected waste PET bottles are primarily repurposed into fibres for initial recycling, most fibre products currently end up being incinerated or landfilled after use.
Depolymerisation-based circular recycled materials are recognised as a technology capable of achieving a complete circulation structure. Depolymerisation-based technology breaks down waste plastics at the molecular level to achieve properties and quality identical to petroleum-based materials. This enables water bottles to be recycled back into water bottles and waste electronic plastics back into electronic products.
By leveraging RIC, SK Chemicals strengthens its cooperation with the beverage, cosmetics, electronics and automotive sectors to secure waste plastic resource circulation infrastructure and stable waste resource supply chains. The company is strategically developing industry-optimised depolymerisation technology and expertise to establish a foundation for large-scale production facilities.
Ahn Jae-hyun, CEO of SK chemicals, states: "Establishing an integrated research and production system from recycled raw materials to recycled plastics will be a crucial turning point in accelerating innovation in the plastic ecosystem's circular recycling. Through close cooperation with companies in food and beverage, automotive, electronics and fashion sectors, we will develop comprehensive resource circulation systems for each industry."
SK Chemicals has a strong track record of innovation in recycling: It says it was the first globally to commercialise circular recycled co-polyester using chemically recycled raw materials (2021); the first in Korea to supply circular recycled PET (2022); and has established a solid production base for recycled waste plastic business by acquiring a stake in the Chinese company Shuye Environmental Technology and establishing SK Chemicals Shantou.
27th February 2025