European industries are taking note of SK chemicals’ innovative circular recycling technology. SK chemicals (CEO Ahn Jae-hyun) announced on the 29th that it participated as a presenter at the Plastic Industry & Environment Congress 2024, held in Douai, France from May 22nd to 23rd. This annual event, organized by the French Society of Plastics Engineers (SFIP), brings together plastic material producers, manufacturers, recycling companies, and brand owners from various sectors to discuss solutions for creating a circular economy.
This year’s congress featured technology presentations from leading global chemical companies, including SK chemicals, EASTMAN, and SABIC.
Although SK chemicals established its European subsidiary in 2008 and has been targeting the European market, this marked its first official participation as a presenter at an event hosted by a plastic association. This highlights SK chemicals’ growing focus on its recycling business, which is attracting interest in the EU region known for leading regulatory trends.
On the first day of the congress, SK chemicals, alongside its European client Albis, presented its recycling solutions, showcasing the superiority of its unique circular recycling technology.
Circular recycling is SK chemicals’ proprietary chemical recycling process. Unlike physical recycling, which involves shredding and cleaning waste plastic to reuse it as raw material, chemical recycling breaks down plastic at the molecular level. This allows the plastic to be reused infinitely without quality degradation, such as loss of transparency.
In March of last year, SK chemicals acquired the chemical recycling and chemically recycled PET business assets of Shuye, a Chinese green materials specialist, for approximately 130 billion won, establishing SK Shantou. This acquisition gave SK chemicals the world’s first commercialized raw material and production facilities for polyester chemical recycling.
During its presentation, SK chemicals introduced its portfolio of materials, which combines rapid commercialization facility development with its experience in applying circular recycling technology. SKYPET CR, a PET material featuring circular recycling technology, and ECOTRIA CLARO CR, a recyclable copolyester classified as post-consumer PET, drew significant attention from attendees.
SK chemicals plans to expand its collaborations with industry stakeholders, leveraging the recognized excellence of its circular recycling technology.
Kim Eung-soo, head of the Green Materials Business Division at SK chemicals, stated, “Global brand owners are showing great interest in using circular recycling materials. We plan to actively promote and provide SK chemicals’ recycling solutions and develop customized eco-friendly products with our clients.
