Expanding Plastic Recycling Scope... Lotte Chemical Launches Social Venture

Lotte Chemical Plastic Resource Circulation Project Loop

[Asia Economy Reporter Choi Dae-yeol] Lotte Chemical's social venture has begun its first activities through Project LOOP, a project launched in early last year to promote a plastic circular economy.

Social ventures are companies that devise creative solutions to social problems. The five social ventures selected for the first cohort are characterized by expanding the range of recycled plastic materials. Previously, recycling focused mainly on polyethylene terephthalate (PET), but now it includes various materials such as polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), and acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS).

At the launch agreement ceremony for the first cohort of social ventures held on the 20th, attendees included Kim Gyo-hyun, CEO of Lotte Chemical, first cohort partner companies such as Kokiri Gongjang and Plus Life, pilot project participants, the law firm Jipyung, and Lotte Ventures as public interest partners. The selected social ventures will produce recycled materials such as engineering plastics by collecting and crushing plastic toys or produce recycled plastic raw materials through the development of desalination and pretreatment plants for waste fishing nets. Some companies are developing crushing-type artificial intelligence (AI) collectors to assist in collecting waste plastics or manufacturing clothing from recycled materials.

Kim Gyo-hyun, CEO of Lotte Chemical, said, "The issue of waste plastics is not a problem that a single company can solve independently. A strong link must be established connecting large corporations, startups, companies, local governments, and civil society." He added, "We will fulfill our role as a platform that creates and supports these connections."

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