SKC to Build World's Largest 'Biodegradable Plastic' Production Plant in Vietnam

Receipt of Investment Permit in Haiphong City
High-Strength PBAT and Biodegradable Limeks
Operation in 2025... Expansion of Eco-Friendly Business

SKC has chosen Haiphong City, Vietnam, as the global production base for its eco-friendly biodegradable material business and is embarking on full-scale investment.

On the 22nd, SKC announced on the 25th that its biodegradable material business investor, Ecovance, received the Investment Registration Certificate (IRC) from Haiphong City at the Haiphong Conference Center in Vietnam. The event was attended by top executives from SKC and Haiphong City, including Park Won-cheol, President of SKC, Le Tien Zhou, Party Secretary of Haiphong City, and Yang Ho-jin, CEO of Ecovance.

Biodegradable materials are "decomposable plastics" that can replace conventional plastics. The industry expects the global biodegradable materials market to grow at an average annual rate of over 20% in the future.

With support from the local government, SKC and Ecovance plan to actively promote the construction of a production facility for PBAT (Polybutylene Adipate Terephthalate), a representative biodegradable material, aiming for operation by 2025. Ecovance’s production facility will be the world's largest single plant with an annual capacity of 70,000 tons. Additionally, land for further expansion within the Haiphong Economic Zone has been secured in advance, laying the foundation for future global expansion.

At the Investment Registration Certificate (IRC) receipt ceremony held in Vietnam on the 22nd, Park Won-chul, President of SKC, Le Tien Zhou, Secretary of the Hai Phong City Party Committee (fourth from the left), and other attendees are posing for a commemorative photo.
[Photo by SKC]

Through Ecovance, SKC has been pushing for the commercialization of high-strength PBAT, a biodegradable material developed with proprietary technology. To overcome the durability shortcomings of general PBAT, nanocellulose extracted from wood was used as a reinforcing agent, significantly enhancing strength to the level of conventional plastics. As a result, it can be used for various applications such as agricultural and packaging films, various consumer product containers, and nonwoven fabrics used in diapers and masks. Sales channels have also been secured in the global market.

The production facility of SK TBM GOSTONE, an investor in SKC’s biodegradable LIMEX material business, will also be established here. SK TBM GOSTONE plans to build a production facility with an annual capacity of 36,000 tons in the Haiphong Economic Zone by 2025. Previously, in 2021, SKC established the joint venture SK TBM GOSTONE with Japan’s TBM, which holds LIMEX technology that combines limestone and general plastic resin to reduce plastic usage, and has been preparing for commercialization.

Biodegradable LIMEX is an eco-friendly new material that mixes PBAT, a biodegradable resin, instead of general plastic with limestone, a natural mineral. Synergy with Ecovance, which produces PBAT, and Vietnam’s abundant limestone reserves is expected to secure excellent quality and price competitiveness. Negotiations for sales are already underway with major manufacturers of daily necessities, hotels, toys, and cosmetics.

Haiphong City is one of Vietnam’s five centrally governed cities, along with the capital Hanoi and southern Ho Chi Minh City, and is recognized as Vietnam’s number one port city and a key industrial city. The Haiphong Economic Zone is optimized for port and logistics infrastructure. It is a complex capable of achieving ‘RE100,’ supplying all necessary power from renewable energy, ensuring eco-friendliness from the production process onward.

An SKC official said, “By investing in production facilities in the Haiphong Economic Zone, which is optimized as a base for the biodegradable material business, we have secured global competitiveness. Going forward, we will expand our eco-friendly business by broadening our portfolio to include PBS based on high-strength PBAT and biodegradable LIMEX technology.”

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