Green Material Company Shoe Signs Asset Purchase Contract Worth 130 Billion KRW
Secures World's First Mass Production System for Recycled Raw Materials and PET
President Ahn Jaehyun: "We Will Lead the Recycled Plastic Market"
SK Chemicals announced on the 6th that it will invest approximately 130 billion KRW to establish a production system for chemical recycling raw materials (r-BHET) and chemical recycling PET (CR-PET), aiming to dominate the chemical recycling PET market worth 10 trillion KRW.
On the same day, SK Chemicals held a board meeting and disclosed that it signed an asset acquisition contract related to chemical recycling raw materials and chemical recycling PET business with Shuye, a Chinese green materials specialist company. The acquisition price is approximately 130 billion KRW.
The assets SK Chemicals is acquiring from Shuye include a depolymerization plant that chemically breaks down waste plastics to produce recycling raw materials, and a CR-PET production facility that uses the produced r-BHET to manufacture PET again. Accordingly, SK Chemicals will secure the world's first commercialized polyester chemical recycling raw materials and product production facilities, enabling individual sales.
Through this acquisition, SK Chemicals will establish a commercial production system for chemical recycling raw materials and products applying depolymerization technology 1 to 2 years ahead of domestic companies. By producing in China, where there is abundant recycled plastic raw material such as waste PET, it can achieve high price competitiveness. It is evaluated that SK Chemicals has completed the recycled plastic value chain leading from chemical recycling raw materials, chemical recycling PET, to chemical recycling copolyester, securing the sustainability of its core business, copolyester, and laying a foundation for new growth.
Water bottles made from chemically recycled raw materials and chemically recycled PET [Photo by SK Chemicals]
Wood Mackenzie forecasted that the global recycled PET market will grow from about 9.7 million tons in 2022 to 46 million tons worth approximately 10 trillion KRW by 2030. Currently, most of the market is mechanical recycling PET (MR-PET). Although the chemical recycling PET market has not yet formed due to the lack of raw materials like r-BHET, it is expected to grow rapidly influenced by carbon emissions regulations, plastic usage and recycling regulations, and changes in consumer preferences toward a circular economy.
SK Chemicals plans to supply materials to domestic and international markets for food and beverage bottles and food packaging films, leveraging the excellent physical properties of chemical recycling PET such as transparency, appearance, and stability. It will also enter the industrial special fiber market where the use of mechanically recycled PET is difficult. Chemical recycling raw materials will also be sold externally as independent products to polyester manufacturers who want to produce recycled products.
SK Chemicals plans to accelerate investment in domestic depolymerization facilities by verifying its proprietary technology and continuously discover business partners to build global production infrastructure in Europe, North America, and other regions. SK Chemicals will focus on developing 'r-TPA' depolymerization technology, which can be a 'game changer' in the recycled plastic industry. 'r-TPA' is a chemical recycling raw material that facilitates impurity removal from waste PET and enables high-quality recycled plastic production without additional production facility modifications.
Jaehyun Ahn, CEO of SK Chemicals, said, “Early securing of chemical recycling raw materials will accelerate enhancing corporate value as part of expanding the financial story through the recycling business,” adding, “We will become a leading company in the global recycled plastic market through global expansion and advancement of the recycling business model.”
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