Government to Promote 9 Major Circular Economy Projects... Targeting 5800 Trillion Won Global Market

The government is promoting nine leading circular economy projects across nine industries, including petrochemicals, steel, and batteries. The plan aims to promote the production and use of recycled raw materials by recovering lithium, nickel, and other materials from used batteries or process scrap.

On the morning of the 21st, the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy and the Ministry of Environment announced the "Industrial New Growth Strategy through the Activation of the Circular Economy" at an emergency economic ministers' meeting held at the Government Seoul Office Building, chaired by Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Economy and Finance Choo Kyung-ho. The circular economy refers to a new economic system that continuously circulates resources, compared to the traditional linear economy where products are discarded after use. The related market is expected to grow to $4.5 trillion (approximately 5,800 trillion KRW) by 2030.

The government aims to rapidly spread the circular economy across industries to support Korean companies' carbon neutrality efforts, secure new competitiveness, and establish domestic supply chains for key resources. To this end, it will form and operate a consultative body involving related ministries to discuss the utilization of by-products from production processes and support the establishment of domestic and international recycled raw material supply chains. Nine leading circular economy projects have been selected for nine major industries, collectively named the "CE (Circular Economy) 9 Projects." The nine industry sectors are petrochemicals, steel, non-ferrous metals, batteries, electronics, textiles, automobiles, machinery, and cement.

The nine projects consist of tasks to foster the circular economy in each industry sector, including △expansion of pyrolysis oil production △conversion to high-grade raw materials (both in petrochemicals) △maximizing the use of steel scrap △recycling of rare metals (both in steel and non-ferrous metals) △establishment of reuse and recycling infrastructure △promotion of recycled raw material production and use (both in batteries) △introduction and implementation of eco-design (electronics and textiles) △activation of remanufactured product exports (automobiles and machinery) △securing alternative fuel and raw materials (cement).

The scope of recognized circular resources will be expanded to enable the use of waste resources, and the use rate of recycled raw materials in PET products will be raised to 30% by 2030 to expand recycled raw material usage. This year, improvements to separate collection guidelines will be made to facilitate easier separation, while infrastructure and system improvements will be pursued to secure high-quality waste plastics and electric vehicle waste batteries. The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy will also promote the advancement of the national integrated resource management system, establish a resource efficiency grading system and recycled raw material certification system, and discover circular economy star companies to lay the foundation for project implementation.

Han Hwa-jin, Minister of Environment, stated, "The transition to a circular economy is a golden opportunity for Korea to achieve carbon neutrality, innovate in the environmental sector, and lead future economic growth." Lee Chang-yang, Minister of Trade, Industry and Energy, also said, "Since the activation of the circular economy requires the interest and cooperation of both the public and private sectors, we will strengthen communication."

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