Dongguk CM Develops 'World's First' Color Steel Sheet Made from Recycled Waste Plastic

Recycling Effect of 100 500ml PET Bottles per Ton

Dongkuk Steel Group announced on the 29th that it has succeeded in developing the world's first color steel sheet manufacturing technology using recycled plastic raw materials.

Dongkuk CM, the cold-rolled business unit of the steel business division, defined the name of the color steel sheet product applying the new technology as ‘Re-born Green Color Steel Sheet (Re-born Green PCM: Recycling Born Green Pre-coated Metal).’ It signifies an eco-friendly color steel sheet born from recycling.

Producing 1 ton of Dongkuk CM’s Re-born Green Color Steel Sheet can recycle about 100 pieces of 500ml PET bottles. Dongkuk CM plans to double the content of recycled plastic raw materials compared to the existing amount through joint research with domestic paint companies. Dongkuk CM’s Busan plant is a production base capable of producing 850,000 tons of color steel sheets annually.

Dongkuk CM’s Re-born Green Color Steel Sheet can achieve both the appearance and functionality of existing products despite using recycled plastic raw materials. It also secures physical properties against deformation for appliances such as washing machines, dryers, and refrigerators.

Dongkuk CM differentiated itself by applying this technology to electric furnace-based hot-rolled steel sheets. The carbon emissions of electric furnace hot-rolled steel sheets are about 25% of those of blast furnace hot-rolled steel sheets. Although it was difficult to meet the processing physical properties for color steel sheets and thus could not be used, Dongkuk CM succeeded for the first time in the industry in producing color steel sheets from electric furnace hot-rolled steel sheets based on its research and development (R&D) capabilities.

By using recycled materials for both basic materials and raw materials, Dongkuk CM expanded its emission source management scope to include Scope 3 (other indirect emissions). Through this technology development and application, Dongkuk CM plans to respond to the European Union (EU) Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) in the future. Dongkuk CM is the largest producer and exporter of color steel sheets in Korea.

As part of the ‘DK Color Vision 2030,’ Dongkuk CM aims to establish a sales system of 2 trillion KRW and 1 million tons in color steel sheet-related sales by 2030, focusing on global, sustainable growth, and marketing as core strategies.

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