SK Nexilis Jeongeup Plant Achieves 96.4% Waste Recycling Rate
SKC Plans to Expand Certification to Other Sites
Targets 'Plastic Net Zero' by 2030 and 'Greenhouse Gas Net Zero' by 2040
[Asia Economy Reporter Hwang Yoon-joo] SK Nexilis, an investor in SKC's copper foil business for secondary batteries, has become the first company in the domestic secondary battery industry to obtain the Zero Waste to Landfill (ZWTL) certification from UL, a global safety standards certification body. SKC plans to pursue ZWTL certification for its other business sites starting with this achievement.
SK Nexilis' Jeongeup plant recently announced on the 7th that it had acquired the 'Gold' grade ZWTL certification from UL. The Gold grade signifies that over 95% of total waste is recycled, ranking second only to the Platinum grade (100%). SK Nexilis has continuously expanded its resource circulation efforts by not only recycling scrap metal, waste paper, and waste plastic but also focusing on byproducts from 'used process water' and establishing a copper recycling system within these byproducts.
SK Nexilis is the only company in the domestic secondary battery industry to have received the ZWTL certification. Globally, only about 20 companies, including SK Hynix, Samsung Electronics, and BASF, maintain this certification. UL conducts thorough verification, examining not only the target companies but also the recycling rates of their suppliers, and the requirements for recognizing recycling rates are stringent. Therefore, the ZWTL certification is recognized as an international standard for reducing landfill waste at business sites.
In the context of a recent sharp increase in waste generation, the importance of such waste reduction efforts is highlighted. According to the Korea Waste Association under the Ministry of Environment, the annual domestic waste generation reached 497,238 tons in 2019, increasing by an average of 5% over the previous five years. Notably, there was an increase of over 11% between 2018 and 2019, indicating a significant upward trend.
Leveraging this certification, SK Nexilis plans to establish a comprehensive recycling cooperation system with customers and partners and pursue ZWTL certification for its overseas sites. Simultaneously, SKC will continue efforts to increase recycling rates by promoting certification for other invested companies' business sites. SKC is also intensifying efforts to expand waste recycling across its businesses, including the full-scale launch of a waste plastic pyrolysis oil business that extracts oil from waste plastics.
An SKC official stated, "SKC has declared this year as the inaugural year for ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) initiatives and is striving to increase waste recycling rates as part of achieving plastic net zero by 2030 and greenhouse gas net zero by 2040. With SK Nexilis obtaining the ZWTL certification, we will accelerate waste reduction and maximize recycling at other business sites."
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