SK Ecoplant Supports Waste Fishing Net Recycling Business...Implementing a New Win-Win Model

Park Kyung-il, President of SK Ecoplant (left), Jung Taek-su, CEO of Netspa, and Do Hyun-myung, Director of the SIM Center, are posing together holding discarded fishing nets.

Netspar Strengthens Partnership with SIM Center for Disused Fishing Net Recycling Business

Contributing to Carbon Reduction of up to Approximately 15,000 Tons Annually Starting Next Year

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Min-young] SK ecoplant is supporting a business that recycles fishing nets discarded in the ocean, presenting a new win-win model to address marine pollution issues.

SK ecoplant announced on the 31st that it held a cooperation ceremony to support the "Disused Fishing Net Recycling Business" with the social venture Netspar and the SIM Center Foundation at the Susong Building in Jongno-gu, Seoul on the 30th. The event was attended by Park Kyung-il, President of SK ecoplant; Jung Taek-su, CEO of Netspar; and Do Hyun-myung, Director of SIM Center.

SK ecoplant plans to annually support Netspar with the costs of establishing a collection and transportation system for disused fishing nets. Netspar will directly carry out the disused fishing net recycling business, while SIM Center will assist in building the necessary network for Netspar’s business.

Netspar is a social venture company that collects and cleans disused fishing nets and recycles them to produce raw materials for regenerated nylon. Established in 2020, it has recently attracted attention by securing a Series A investment worth approximately 3 billion KRW (investment received from prototype development to just before full-scale market entry). Unlike the previous manual sorting of disused fishing nets, Netspar has proprietary technology and automated facilities that perfectly sort nylon as a single material and extract it in large quantities. A plant capable of recycling about 4,000 tons of disused fishing nets annually is also under construction in Busan and is scheduled to begin operation in the second half of this year.

The disused fishing net recycling business enables the collection of nets abandoned in the ocean, and the recycled nets are supplied as raw materials for regenerated nylon, which has a carbon reduction effect of approximately 3.68 kg per 1 kg of disused fishing net. Starting next year, it is expected to contribute to carbon reduction of up to approximately 15,000 tons annually. Regenerated nylon is reproduced into long fibers for clothing, automotive and electronic components, among others.

Park Kyung-il, President of SK ecoplant, said, "Through this event held in celebration of Ocean Day, we have been able to assist in the disused fishing net recycling business that protects the ocean, a major carbon sink, and solves marine environmental problems. As the leading environmental company in Korea, we will continue to discover new win-win models to create a waste resource circulation ecosystem."

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