Seven Eleven Partners with 'TerraBlock' for Waste Plastic Recycling Project

Expected Annual Reduction Effect of 80 Tons in New Plastic Usage

Seven Eleven announced on the 21st that it will carry out a plastic waste recycling project within its logistics centers in collaboration with the startup TerraBlock, which possesses plastic waste decomposition technology.

TerraBlock was selected as Seven Eleven’s ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) partner company after achieving excellent results in the “Distribution Platform Innovation Open Stage” held last October by Seven Eleven in partnership with Lotte Ventures and the Research & Development Special Zone Promotion Foundation to discover capable startup partners.

TerraBlock holds depolymerization technology that converts PET (polyester), which is polymerized as a high polymer, back into its pre-polymer raw materials TPA (terephthalic acid) and EG (ethylene glycol). By utilizing depolymerization technology, PET with colors or mixtures can also be recycled, significantly increasing the recycling rate of plastic waste.

TerraBlock’s depolymerization technology is characterized by a short reaction time at low temperatures and the absence of metal catalysts, which allows it to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 90% compared to existing depolymerization technologies. Additionally, the recycled raw material TPA processed by TerraBlock boasts 99% purity and achieves a recycling rate of 97%.

The plastic waste recycling project between Seven Eleven and TerraBlock proceeds by TerraBlock collecting waste PET generated at Seven Eleven’s logistics centers, converting it back into recyclable TPA through depolymerization technology, and selling it to plastic manufacturers and others.

Through this joint project, Seven Eleven can reduce the cost of processing waste PET generated at its logistics centers, while TerraBlock can generate revenue by selling TPA derived from the collected waste PET. Most importantly, from a social perspective, it contributes to reducing the use of new plastics through plastic waste recycling.

Seven Eleven plans to first recycle plastic waste generated at its Incheon logistics center through TerraBlock and gradually expand this to all logistics centers. If TerraBlock collects and recycles plastic waste generated at all Seven Eleven logistics centers in the future, it is expected to reduce the annual use of new plastics by approximately 80 tons.

Lee Yun-ho, head of Seven Eleven’s DT Innovation Team, said, “We are making company-wide efforts to reduce the use of new plastics by recycling plastic waste generated not only at stores but also at our own logistics centers,” adding, “We will continue to reduce the use of new plastics at convenience stores through various methods going forward.”