SK Chemicals to Expand 'Chemical Recycle' Material Sales Share to 50% by 2025

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Yoon-joo] A domestic chemical company is attracting industry attention by presenting a 'Sustainable Packaging Solution (SPS)' in response to the rapidly growing demand in the eco-friendly packaging market due to various countries' policies to reduce single-use products.

SK Chemicals announced on the 16th that it plans to expand its 'Sustainable Packaging Solution (SPS)' lineup by launching 'ECOTRIA CR,' which applies chemical recycling technology, within this year and aims to increase the sales volume of copolyester to 50% by 2025.

To this end, SK Chemicals is quickly completing preparations for commercialization, including facility reinforcement for the chemical recycling product 'ECOTRIA CR,' and plans to launch commercial products in the market within the third quarter.

Unlike 'physical recycling,' which uses recycled raw materials (PCR) made by shredding and processing collected PET bottles, 'chemical recycling' technology decomposes plastics back into pure raw materials to manufacture polymer plastics, enabling repeated recycling without quality degradation of plastic products.

Materials produced through 'physical recycling' technology undergo processes such as collection and washing, making it difficult to maintain the original material's color and clarity. Additionally, melting and reprocessing plastics make it hard to preserve their inherent physical properties, limiting their use mainly to fields like textiles.

SK Chemicals' 'ECOTRIA CR' is characterized by using 50% of raw materials decomposed through chemical recycling technology while maintaining the unique transparency, appearance, and chemical resistance of copolyester. According to the company, this allows for a significant expansion in the use of materials for products requiring high functionality and transparency, such as cosmetic containers, blister packaging, and deco sheets.

With the launch of 'ECOTRIA CR,' the company will secure an industry-leading diverse lineup of eco-friendly packaging materials, including ▲ 'ECOTRIA CR' using chemical recycled raw materials ▲ 'ECOTRIA R' using recycled PET raw materials (PCR) ▲ and 'Ecozen Claro,' which uses biomass materials.

'ECOTRIA R' contains 30% recycled PET raw materials (PCR) and has obtained Global Recycle Standard (GRS) certification. Both 'ECOTRIA R' and 'Ecozen Claro' feature excellent chemical resistance and maintain high transparency even in thick containers. Additionally, they are classified as PET (Polyethylene Terephthalate), the international plastic resin identification code number 1, allowing for recycling back into PET after use overseas, attracting significant interest in foreign markets.

SK Chemicals plans to expand the sales ratio of SPS materials to 50% of copolyester sales by 2025 based on this diverse product lineup.

Meanwhile, despite the economic downturn caused by COVID-19, SK Chemicals' copolyester sales volume increased by 24% in 2020 compared to the previous year. To prepare for the expansion of the eco-friendly plastic market, the company completed the expansion of copolyester production facilities by the end of June and plans to strengthen its ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) management system further through the production of chemical recycling solution products.

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