GS Caltex Secures Objectivity in Carbon Emissions of Recycled Plastics

On the 25th at GS Tower, a 'Carbon Footprint Verification Opinion Letter' Award Ceremony with Three Related Companies

Kim Hyung-guk, Head of GS Caltex Chemical & Lube Division (center), Lee Jang-seop, CEO of DNV Business Assurance Korea (left), and Han Sang-hak, Advisor of Eco G&R (right) are posing for a commemorative photo at the carbon footprint verification opinion certificate awarding ceremony. Photo by GS Caltex

GS Caltex, together with its equity investment company Eco G&R, has established a 'Life Cycle Assessment (LCA)' system for 'automotive waste plastic recycled materials.' Based on the carbon neutrality research institute and the LCA methodology, they calculated the carbon emissions and completed third-party verification by the Norwegian certification body 'DNV' for the first time in Korea. Life Cycle Assessment quantifies all materials and energy input, as well as waste emissions throughout the entire process from raw material extraction and processing to product manufacturing, transportation, use, and disposal, to calculate the environmental impact generated by products and services.

In July, GS Caltex acquired a 40% stake in Eco G&R, a specialist company in automotive waste plastic recycling, and supplies recycled composite resin made from automotive waste plastic recycled materials received from Eco G&R. This is done by applying its own physical property enhancement compounding technology to meet the requirements of automobile and home appliance manufacturers.

DNV, which conducted the verification, is a Norwegian global classification society and an energy and environment specialized certification body. It professionally performs third-party verification not only for Life Cycle Assessment but also for greenhouse gas emissions, sustainability reports, supply chain audits, and human rights impact assessments.

Until now, carbon footprint measurements for waste plastic recycling have rarely undergone third-party verification. In particular, GS Caltex’s third-party verification of the carbon footprint of automotive-derived waste plastics is the first of its kind in Korea, securing the LCA methodology through this verification.

Additionally, it was confirmed that the automotive waste plastic recycled materials used as raw materials by GS Caltex achieve approximately a 70% reduction effect compared to the carbon footprint of newly produced polypropylene registered in the Korea Environmental Industry & Technology Institute's 'National LCI DB (Life Cycle Inventory Database).'

The LCI DB refers to data that lists the amounts of inputs and outputs in the product system from raw material extraction, production, transportation/distribution, use, to disposal per functional unit of the product.

Since 2010, GS Caltex has expanded its Mechanical Recycling (MR) business, which creates new value in the performance and quality of composite resin products by mixing waste plastic materials. Currently, recycled composite resin made from waste plastic recycled materials accounts for more than 15% of the total composite resin production volume.

Kim Hyung-guk, Head of Chemical & Lube Division at GS Caltex, stated, "Through this verification, we expect to secure objectivity regarding GS Caltex’s recycled plastic carbon emissions," adding, "We will continue to expand low-carbon material businesses that contribute to carbon reduction."

Meanwhile, GS Caltex is focusing on Green Transformation to respond to future environmental changes such as carbon neutrality and energy transition. As part of this, it is expanding recycling businesses using Mechanical Recycling (MR) and Chemical Recycling (CR) methods to establish a plastic circular economy. It is also expanding low-carbon new businesses such as building a white bio business value chain and promoting hydrogen and CCUS projects.

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