SK Chemicals Collaborates with Kooksoondang to Develop Circular Recycling Containers

Application of Circular Recycled PET
MOU for Development of Recycled Traditional Liquor Packaging Products

SK Chemicals and Kooksoondang have signed an MOU (Memorandum of Understanding) to develop alcoholic beverage containers based on circular recycled materials.

On the 25th, SK Chemicals and Kooksoondang announced that they signed a business agreement at Kooksoondang's Seoul office in Samseong-dong, Seoul, to develop traditional liquor containers applying circular recycled PET (CR-PET) for the first time in the traditional liquor industry.

According to this agreement, both companies plan to actively develop traditional liquor packaging using circular recycled materials and cooperate to smoothly advance the project to the commercialization stage. This is the first time that containers for traditional liquor are being developed using materials based on chemical recycling technology.

To this end, SK Chemicals will supply the 'SKYPET CR' material necessary for producing Kooksoondang's traditional liquor containers and provide various technical supports based on its expertise in polyester materials. Kooksoondang plans to develop and apply optimized recycled packaging for traditional liquor containers using this material. Furthermore, both companies agreed to not only develop containers using simple recycled packaging but also to collaborate on the actual application, commercialization, and expansion of consumer adoption of the developed containers.

Kooksoondang partnered with SK Chemicals in the process of seeking alternatives to petrochemical-based PET materials previously used in traditional liquor containers, in line with the global trend of expanding the use of recycled raw materials. According to Greenpeace’s "Plastic Korea 2.0 Report," 5.6 billion PET bottles, amounting to 84,456 tons, were discarded domestically in 2020.

Traditional liquor, made through traditional fermentation methods, requires strict management and maintenance of quality characteristics such as taste, aroma, and color until it reaches consumers after production. Therefore, it is necessary to achieve physical properties equivalent to those of existing petrochemical materials. SK Chemicals’ circular recycled PET brand, ‘SKYPET CR,’ is a material based on depolymerization technology that breaks down waste plastic to the molecular level and returns it to raw material. Although it uses waste plastic as raw material, it exhibits the same quality and physical properties as petroleum-based PET materials. Unlike physical recycling materials that are incinerated or landfilled after one use, it has the advantage of being reusable again as recycled plastic.

Kooksoondang expects this agreement to bring about revolutionary technological progress in the application of recycled packaging materials in Korea’s traditional liquor packaging industry.

A Kooksoondang official stated, "SK Chemicals was the first in Korea to produce PET resin in 1978 and recently commercialized chemical recycling technology for the first time in the world. It is a company that possesses both polyester technology and chemical recycling technology." He added, "We will combine SK’s material technology and expertise with our container manufacturing know-how to create a sustainable trend in alcoholic beverage containers."

Kooksoondang has consistently led the traditional liquor industry by introducing products incorporating new packaging technologies. In 1993, it launched the industry’s first canned Makgeolli, and in 2009, it introduced 'Kooksoondang Saeng Makgeolli,' the first in the industry to apply a completely sealed cap to fresh Makgeolli. Additionally, it has improved environmental considerations by changing the containers of major Makgeolli products to transparent PET bottles and applying perforated lines on labels to facilitate separation and recycling.

SK Chemicals President Ahn Jae-hyun said, "Beverage containers, including alcoholic beverages, bottled water, and soft drinks, are among the sectors that use the most plastic in daily life." He added, "We will expand collaboration with leading companies in industries that use a lot of waste plastic to establish a virtuous cycle system for discarded plastic and contribute to reducing plastic usage."

Meanwhile, besides promoting the development of circular recycled packaging materials, Kooksoondang is continuously conducting ESG activities for a sustainable future. These include being selected as a Green Company by the Ministry of Environment for five consecutive times, completing the smart eco-factory construction project at Hoengseong Brewery, forest care activities at Cheongtaesan, companion beach activities at Gangneung Gyeongpodae, and purification activities at Jucheon River.