SK Energy Supports SME Asphalt Tanks to Revitalize Recycled Asphalt Concrete Market

SK Energy and Insung A&T officials are taking a commemorative photo for the completion of the dedicated asphalt tank for recycled asphalt concrete. Photo by SK Innovation

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Dong-hoon] SK Energy is supporting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in installing asphalt tanks to produce recycled asphalt concrete (Ascon). This is a case utilizing the win-win cooperation fund, and social value (SV) creation is also expected in the future. Ascon refers to a mixture consisting of about 95% aggregate and 5% asphalt used in new road construction and maintenance paving.

On the 7th, SK Energy announced that it will support approximately 850 million KRW from the win-win cooperation fund to build asphalt tanks necessary for recycled Ascon production by Ascon manufacturers. Starting with the asphalt tank completed earlier this month at Inseong A&T, a total of 10 tanks will be sequentially installed at 10 Ascon companies by early next year. Along with this, continuous monitoring will be conducted to help Ascon companies maintain recycled Ascon production.

Every year, a large amount of construction waste (waste Ascon) is generated due to regular road maintenance, and the government encourages the use of recycled Ascon. However, during recycled Ascon production, quality control factors increase due to additional input materials and processes, making it difficult for Ascon companies to expand recycled Ascon production. Moreover, most Ascon companies are SMEs and face difficulties securing investment funds needed to build additional facilities such as asphalt tanks, dryers, and burners required for producing recycled Ascon.

Because of this, despite the government's policy to expand recycled Ascon use, the actual usage rate remains low. According to the Korea Asphalt Concrete Industry Cooperative Federation, the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced in 2012 that the mandatory usage rate of recycled Ascon would be expanded to 40% by 2016, but as of 2021, the usage rate of recycled Ascon in all government-ordered Ascon was only 21.3%.

SK Energy, recognizing these difficulties faced by Ascon companies, decided to support the installation of asphalt tanks dedicated to recycled Ascon through the win-win cooperation fund. In particular, SK Energy developed asphalt exclusively for recycled Ascon, improving convenience in production and quality control for users, and is also assisting Ascon companies in obtaining government certification for recycled product quality required for recycled Ascon production. The recycled Ascon-specific asphalt developed by SK Energy is included as a material in the government-recognized quality certification.

Through this support, SK Energy views it as realizing win-win cooperation with Ascon companies that had difficulty introducing facilities for recycled Ascon production. Especially, when Ascon companies expand recycled Ascon production by adopting recycled Ascon-specific asphalt, it is expected to create social value worth approximately 18.4 billion KRW annually compared to conventional Ascon production by reducing environmental costs from preventing waste Ascon landfill and recycling resources (aggregate and asphalt) within waste Ascon.

Choi Sung-jun, Head of SK Energy’s AP/Bunkering Business Division, said, "This support is a representative case of mutual cooperation between large corporations and small and medium-sized partners," adding, "As the use of recycled Ascon increases, it is expected to contribute to solving resource waste and environmental problems, thereby expanding social value."

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