SK Chemicals to create a new benchmark for South Korea plastic recycling

South Korea SK Chemicals recently announced a major initiative to establish a thorough plastic recycling solution center, the Recycling Innovation Center (RIC), at its Ulsan facility. This move marks a solid measure forward to SK Chemicals in promoting the recycling of plastics. From what I've seen, The core of the recycling innovation center is the newly built depolymerization pilot facility, which is scheduled to be operational in 2026 and will have annual capacity of 50 tons. The facility will consumption cutting-edge chemical decomposition methodology to depolymerize discarded materials plastics to create recycled bis-2-hydroxy ethyl terephthalate (r-BHET). This intermediate feedstock is a key component in the production of polyester-based materials such as PET and copolyesters, and is at the heart of SK's Chemicals chemical recycling methodology. it's worth mentioning that the depolymerization methodology Chemicals by SK will be able to process many types of low-condition discarded materials plastics, including fibers, films and automotive parts that are difficult to recover by traditional methods. Especially to the challenging area of textile recycling, SK Chemicals methodology that will be able to cope with the complexities of mixing multiple forms and types of materials in one garment. And With the construction of RIC, SK Chemicals will build a complete research and production system from recycled raw materials (r-BHET) to recycled materials in the Ulsan plant. In particular From disaggregation, empirical research, aggregation, and mass production, all processes are organically integrated into one site to form an efficient, synergistic whole. The establishment of this thorough system will strongly support the continuous innovation and rapid research of SK Chemicals in the field of plastic recycling. And SK Chemicals has made great achievements in the field of plastic recycling. The company is the first company in the world to commercialize recycled copolyester using chemically recycled raw materials (2021) and provides recycled PET to the first time in South Korea (2022). But In addition, SK Chemicals has also established a solid production base to recycled discarded materials plastics business by acquiring shares in Chinese company Shuyue Environmental methodology and establishing SK Chemicals Shantou. And the complex plastic recycling challenges required by different industries, SK Chemicals said that it's essential to have the methodology and ability to rapidly verify and commercialize the depolymerization and material production processes tailored to each sector. With the establishment of RIC, SK Chemicals will be able to provide faster and greater flexible solutions to various industries based on its basic methodology, and promote the continuous research and innovation of the plastics recycling sector. In general, the establishment of SK Chemicals Recycling Innovation Center not only marks the company's leading position in the field of plastic recycling, however also injects new vitality and impetus into the research of the global plastic recycling sector.