Huh Se-hong, GS Caltex President, "Upcycling Waste Plastic is Essential... Creating Value with Eco-Friendly Products"

Eco-friendly Products Exceed 10% of Total Composite Resin Production

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Yoon-joo] He Se-hong, CEO of GS Caltex, announced plans to expand the production of products using an 'upcycling method' that goes beyond simple recycling of waste plastics to create new value. This is interpreted as an effort to gain an advantage in the 'plastic recycling' market, which has recently attracted attention from global consumer goods companies and the petrochemical industry.

On the 2nd, GS Caltex announced that the production volume of eco-friendly composite resin has exceeded 10% of the total composite resin production. Composite resin is a functional plastic used as a raw material for automobiles and home appliances, and among domestic refiners, only GS Caltex produces it.

CEO He said, "Upcycling, which increases resource circulation rates through efficient use by minimizing waste and creates new value, is essential," adding, "GS Caltex will develop products using eco-friendly raw materials through collaboration with global customers in the future, fulfilling social responsibility by reducing greenhouse gases and creating economic value through high value-added products."

GS Caltex's composite resin production capacity is 300,000 tons per year, enough to produce 6 million compact cars. The eco-friendly composite resin business using waste plastics began in 2010, and the current production scale of eco-friendly composite resin has reached 25,000 tons. This is more than 2.5 times the initial production volume.

In particular, composite resin, a material for automobiles and home appliances, has expanded into markets not only in China?including Langfang, Hebei Province in 2006, Suzhou, Jiangsu Province in 2010?but also Europe, the Czech Republic in 2011, and North America, Mexico in 2016, supplying high-quality materials domestically and internationally. The polymer business is vertically integrated from the raw material propylene to the intermediate polypropylene and the final composite resin, building a portfolio that can diversify risks caused by external factors such as oil price fluctuations.

GS Caltex established an ESG management system in 2017 and has steadily managed a sustainable management system based on risk management and social responsibility fulfillment in various areas related to the company, including economic, social, and environmental aspects. Sales of eco-friendly products amount to approximately 500 billion KRW, accounting for 1.5% of total sales last year, and the waste recycling rate reaches 76%.

This trend has been further strengthened since CEO He took office. Since his inauguration in 2019, CEO He has concretized the vision statement as "We will become the most respected energy and chemical company based on the industry's best competitiveness." Environmental management is prioritized at the center of activities to become a respected company, based on the judgment that the traditional method of extracting resources to produce products and then disposing of them has reached its limits.

In November last year, GS Caltex issued its first-ever green bond worth 130 billion KRW since its founding. GS Caltex expects that facility investments through green bond issuance will contribute to reducing emissions of air pollutants such as fine dust-causing substances.

It is also actively working to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through energy efficiency. In April, GS Caltex completely replaced low-sulfur heavy oil (LSFO), the fuel used for operating production facilities at the Yeosu plant, with liquefied natural gas (LNG) through process improvements. By switching to LNG fuel, it is expected to reduce carbon dioxide emissions by more than 19% from facilities that previously used low-sulfur heavy oil, and reduce fine dust-causing substances such as sulfur oxides and nitrogen oxides by more than 30%.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.