Na Kyung-su "Establishing a Practical Plastic Recycling Virtuous Cycle"
SK Geocentric is partnering with Woowa Brothers, the operator of South Korea's No.1 delivery application ‘Baedal Minjok,’ to recycle plastic delivery containers. The goal is to increase the recycling rate of plastic delivery containers, reduce greenhouse gases, and establish a plastic circular system.
On the 6th, SK Geocentric signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for ‘Chemical Recycling Cooperation of Delivery Containers’ with Woowa Brothers at the SK Green Campus (Jongno Tower Building) in Jongno-gu, Seoul.
SK Geocentric possesses one of the three major plastic chemical recycling technologies: high-purity polypropylene (PP) extraction, pyrolysis, and depolymerization. The high-purity PP extraction technology selectively extracts pure PP, the main component of plastic, excluding contaminants attached to waste plastic, enabling the production of petrochemical-based new PP products with the same material properties.
The commonly used ‘physical recycling’ method involves shredding and melting waste plastic. However, due to contamination by external substances such as food and the varying PP content and material composition, it has been difficult to secure high-quality PP raw materials. The plastic materials used for delivery containers are not made of single PP but are mixed with various substances. There are no specific standards for PP content, so plastic delivery containers with different PP contents are distributed.
SK Geocentric plans to build a high-purity PP extraction plant at the world’s first plastic recycling complex, ‘Ulsan ARC (Advanced Recycling Cluster),’ which will break ground this year in Nam-gu, Ulsan, to recycle various plastic containers. After the completion of Ulsan ARC, discarded delivery containers will be recycled using high-purity PP extraction technology and used as high value-added raw materials in various industries such as home appliances and automotive interior and exterior parts.
The two companies will collaborate to develop and distribute plastic delivery containers with high PP content that are easy to recycle, and conduct pilot projects considering methods to collect and upcycle used plastic delivery containers. They will also explore win-win cooperation plans with small and medium-sized enterprises producing delivery containers.
Na Kyung-soo, CEO of SK Geocentric, said, “Through this cooperation, we hope to create a circular economy that transforms delivery containers, which have been difficult to recycle, into new resources,” adding, “SK Geocentric will take the lead in high value-added plastic recycling and sustainable material development and will spearhead efforts to widely spread this among various stakeholders.”
Lee Guk-hwan, CEO of Woowa Brothers, said, “This MOU will be the first step to increase the recycling rate of delivery containers based on eco-friendly technology and to seek more efficient utilization methods,” and added, “Woowa Brothers will lead efforts to foster an eco-friendly delivery culture through various methods, including chemical recycling of plastics and expanding the distribution of reusable containers.”
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