Lotte Chemical Nurtures Resource Circulation Startups... Launches 4th Cohort of 'Project LOOP Social'

From Waste Plastic Collection to Recycling Innovation
19 Companies Supported in Cohorts 1 to 3... 6 Selected for the 4th Cohort
Business Funding, Mentoring, and Market Development Support Provided

Lotte Chemical has officially launched the fourth cohort of 'Project LOOP Social,' a program dedicated to discovering and nurturing eco-friendly social ventures to innovate the plastic recycling ecosystem.

On July 16, Lotte Chemical announced the launch of the fourth round of 'Project LOOP Social,' a social venture support program aimed at building a circular economy for plastics. The company held an agreement ceremony with participating companies on July 15 at Lotte World Tower in Jamsil, Seoul, and officially selected six promising startups engaged in the collection, sorting, and recycling of waste plastic resources.

Youngjun Lee, CEO of Lotte Chemical (fourth from the left), participated in the 'Project Loop Social 4th Term Agreement Ceremony' held on the 15th at Lotte World Tower in Jamsil, Seoul, and took a commemorative photo with the representatives of six startups. Lotte Chemical

'Project LOOP Social' is part of Lotte Chemical's plastic resource circulation campaign, 'Project LOOP.' It is a program designed to identify startups that are at the forefront of solving the waste plastic issue and to support them in commercializing their technologies. Since launching a pilot program in 2020, Lotte Chemical has supported a total of 19 companies across the first to third cohorts. With the addition of the fourth cohort, the cumulative number of participating companies has increased to 25.

The six companies selected for this round are: Eight Tech, which sorts waste plastics using AI robot technology; Found Objet, a platform for distributing recycled plastics; Repla, which decomposes plastics using microorganisms; 4Seas, which recycles marine waste plastics; Textaily, which has developed technology to extract polymer components from fibers; and Akron Eco, which turns waste plastics into resources using continuous ultrasonic pyrolysis technology.

These companies will receive a range of collaborative opportunities, including business funding, expert mentoring, acceleration programs, online education, and market development support. Lotte Chemical plans to co-manage the program with the impact investment firm Impact Square to help generate tangible results.

Lotte Chemical is also continuing its collaboration with companies from previous cohorts. With Elephant Factory, an outstanding company from the first cohort, the company is jointly promoting the 'LOOP Cluster' resource recovery hub project in Busan, Ulsan, and Incheon. Lowreet Collective, which produces furniture from recycled plastics, has partnered with Lotte Museum to create merchandise featuring works by exhibition artists.

Youngjun Lee, CEO of Lotte Chemical, stated, "Through Project LOOP Social, we will strengthen our collaboration with social ventures and expand the resource circulation ecosystem. We will actively support the selected companies so that they can achieve real social and environmental impact."

Meanwhile, in addition to 'Project LOOP Social,' Lotte Chemical is expanding its initiatives through projects such as 'LOOP Cluster,' which secures recycled raw materials in collaboration with local governments and public and private facilities; 'LOOP Lotte,' which increases the use of recycled materials within the Lotte Group; and 'LOOP Alliance,' which builds a circular economy network across the industry.