Ministry of Environment Visits SK Innovation and SK General Chemical Resource Circulation System R&D Site

[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Yoon-joo] SK Innovation announced on the 21st that Minister of Environment Han Jeong-ae visited SK Innovation's Daejeon Environmental Science and Technology Institute to review SK General Chemical's pyrolysis technology for waste plastics and the research and development trends of waste resource recycling at the Environmental Science and Technology Institute.

This on-site visit by the Ministry of Environment was conducted to understand the current status of domestic resource circulation technologies and to urge the development of technologies that solve environmental problems caused by waste resources such as waste plastics and waste lubricants, as well as reduce carbon emissions.

SK Innovation's Environmental Science and Technology Institute is dedicated to research and development aimed at developing and commercializing eco-friendly technologies. Representative efforts include ▲ pyrolysis oil production and post-processing technology that produces petrochemical raw materials from waste plastics ▲ depolymerization technology that chemically decomposes contaminated PET bottles and incinerated clothing waste to obtain raw materials ▲ development of eco-friendly plastic materials ▲ recycling technology that converts waste lubricants back into lubricant raw materials ▲ development of eco-friendly asphalt ▲ mineral extraction technology from waste batteries, all aimed at establishing an eco-friendly resource circulation ecosystem.

On this day, Na Kyung-soo, President of SK General Chemical, a chemical affiliate of SK Innovation, and Lee Sung-joon, Director of SK Innovation's Environmental Science and Technology Institute, focused on explaining the pyrolysis oil technology that can address the serious environmental issue of waste plastics.

Pyrolysis oil is obtained by applying heat to waste plastics. Depending on the level of impurity removal from the produced pyrolysis oil, high-purity chemical raw materials such as naphtha can be extracted. Pyrolyzing one million tons of waste plastics can yield raw materials equivalent to 5.4 million barrels of crude oil. This not only solves waste problems but also allows reuse as resources. SK Innovation and SK General Chemical have secured world-class technology by dedicating themselves to research and development of post-processing processes to improve the quality of pyrolysis oil.

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Environment is preparing various promotion measures, including amendments to related laws, to activate the domestic waste plastic pyrolysis business. The Ministry plans to amend the Waste Management Act and subordinate regulations so that domestic petrochemical companies can recycle waste plastics into petroleum products such as naphtha and diesel as alternatives to crude oil. Additionally, when petrochemical companies use waste plastic pyrolysis oil as raw materials for petroleum products, related guidelines will be revised to recognize carbon emission credits considering the greenhouse gas reduction effect.