SK Chemicals to Set Up Waste Plastic Recycling Innovation Center in Korea

SK chemicals, the world's first company to successfully mass-produce chemical recycled materials, has set out to establish an integrated plastic recycling solution center in Korea. The center will cover the production of circular recyclable raw materials, demonstration research, and material production.

The company announced on February 18 that it will establish a Recycling Innovation Center (RIC) at its Ulsan plant, which produces environmentally friendly chemical materials. The company will invest in a new pilot facility to produce recyclable plastic raw materials (r-BHET) by chemically decomposing waste plastics and connect it to its existing commercial copolyester production facility. This is SK Chemical's first recycling center based on decomposition technology in Korea.

The newly built depolymerization pilot facility will produce r-BHET from waste plastics. The facility will verify the commercialization technology of various low-quality waste plastics that were previously difficult to recycle through traditional methods, ranging from typical transparent bottles to fibers, films, and automotive parts. In particular, textile recycling is considered a very challenging field because various forms and types of materials are mixed in one piece of clothing. This includes not only polyester yarn, but also other fibers such as cotton, as well as various accessories such as buttons.

The depolymerization pilot facility is expected to start operation in 2026 with an annual production capacity of 50 tons. r-BHET is an intermediate raw material for polyester-based materials such as PET and copolyester, and is an integral part of SK Chemicals' chemical recycling technology.

With the construction of the RIC, SK Chemicals will establish an integrated research and production system from r-BHET to recycled materials at its Ulsan plant. All processes from depolymerization to demonstration research, polymerization and mass production will be organically integrated at one location. This will be supported by a polymerization pilot to produce recycled PET and a commercial production facility capable of mass production of recycled copolyester.

SK chemicals said, "Different industries such as automotive, electronics, and fashion generate different types of waste plastics, and have different requirements for plastic quality and characteristics. Therefore, it is crucial to quickly verify and commercialize the technology and capabilities for decomposition and material production processes suitable for each industry. By establishing the RIC, we will be able to provide faster and more flexible solutions for complex issues required by various industries based on basic technologies."

The establishment of the RIC is expected to accelerate the implementation of SK Chemical's closed-loop solutions. A closed loop refers to a complete circulation system in which waste plastics that would otherwise be landfilled or incinerated are collected, crushed, cleaned, depolymerized and polymerized, regenerated in the same form as petroleum-based plastics, and then used to make products such as electronic products and beverage containers.

Although plastics recovered from collected discarded PET bottles are mainly reused as fibers for initial recycling, most fiber products currently end up being incinerated or landfilled after use.

Depolymerization-type recycled materials are recognized as technologies that can achieve a complete cycle structure. Depolymerization technology decomposes waste plastics at the molecular level to achieve the same performance and quality as petroleum-based materials, allowing water bottles to be recycled into water bottles and waste electronic plastics to be recycled into electronic products.

SK Chemicals uses RIC to strengthen cooperation with industries such as beverages, cosmetics, electronics, and automobiles to ensure waste plastic resource recycling infrastructure and a stable waste plastic resource supply chain, and strategically develop industry-optimized decomposition technology and expertise to lay the foundation for large-scale production facilities.

Ahn Jae-hyun, CEO of SK Chemicals, said: "Establishing an integrated R&D and production system from recycled raw materials to recycled plastics will be a key turning point to accelerate innovation in the recycling of plastics ecosystems. By working closely with companies in the food and beverage, automotive, electronics, fashion and other industries, we will develop a comprehensive resource recycling system for each industry."

SK Chemicals has made remarkable achievements in the field of recycling: the world's first commercialization of recycled copolyester using chemical recycled raw materials (2021); the first supply of recycled PET in South Korea (2022); and through the acquisition of China Shuye Environmental Technology Co., Ltd.'s equity and the establishment of SK Chemicals Shantou Company, it has laid a solid production foundation for the waste plastic recycling business.