SK Energy to Make Road Asphalt 'Eco-Friendly'... Complete Transition by 2030

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyewon] SK Energy, the petroleum business subsidiary of SK Innovation, is expanding sales of eco-friendly asphalt.

SK Energy announced on the 31st that it is converting more than 30% of its domestic road asphalt sales to eco-friendly products and plans to switch 100% of its sales to eco-friendly products by 2030. SK Energy's Asphalt (AP) and Bunkering Division sells 450,000 tons of domestic road asphalt annually.

Considering the ongoing global issues and interest in the environment, SK Energy has established a strategic direction called "eco-friendly productization" to secure competitiveness through asphalt specialization and has been researching and developing various products since 2015.

The eco-friendly asphalt produced and sold by SK Energy consists of three products: "Premium Asphalt," "Polymer Modified Asphalt," and "Recycled Dedicated Asphalt."

Premium Asphalt can be produced and applied at temperatures approximately 30℃ lower than regular asphalt concrete (Ascon). This reduces emissions of air pollutants and harmful substances while also decreasing the occurrence of potholes (areas where the road surface is broken or sunken, forming pot-like holes).

Polymer Modified Asphalt, called PMA, can be used about twice as long as regular asphalt roads and offers various functions such as permeability and noise reduction.

Recycled Dedicated Asphalt regenerates waste asphalt concrete without additional additives, and when used with recycled additives simultaneously, it allows for a greater amount of recycled aggregate. This is expected to reduce environmental costs related to landfill and disposal of waste asphalt concrete and increase the recycling rate of domestic roads, which is currently lower than that of advanced countries.

Choi Seongjun, head of SK Energy's Asphalt (AP) and Bunkering Division, said, "We will accelerate the expansion of the eco-friendly asphalt market and the development of various eco-friendly products to contribute to SK Innovation's net-zero goals. Through this, we aim to create an eco-friendly road environment where all citizens can drive with peace of mind and contribute to establishing a circular ecosystem in the road industry."

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