• SK chemicals will supply eco-friendly raw materials to the global cosmetic container maker Woosung Platech
• As a response to the tightened global plastic regulations covering the highest level of waste plastic recycling technology

SK chemicals and Woosung Platech have teamed up to produce eco-friendly cosmetic containers.

SK chemicals and Woosung Platech announced on the 2nd that they will commercialize eco-friendly cosmetic containers using recycled chemical materials to respond to market needs and new regulations on plastic use in domestic and foreign cosmetic industries. SK chemicals will supply “ECOTRIA CR” material, and Woosung Platech will use it to produce highly transparent cosmetic containers.

It is a very urgent task for all countries, including those in Europe, to reduce and recycle plastic waste. For this reason, plastic recycling and eco-friendly packaging materials are being actively used in the global cosmetics industry by such leaders as L'Oreal, Estee Lauder, and Chanel. L’Oréal plans to replace the plastic packaging in its products with packaging made from recycled or bio-based raw materials by 2025, and replace all plastic by 2030.

“Chemical recycling” is a technology that depolymerizes plastic waste to revert it to a raw material state, which can then be used to produce polymer plastic. Materials produced from “Chemical recycling” have fewer foreign substances than “physically recycled” material, so it is possible to manufacture containers with the highest quality standards of mechanical properties, transparency, and color required by cosmetic companies. Especially, ECOTRIA® Claro is also classified as PET, the first code in international plastic resin identification, and can be recycled again as PET after use, which is attracting much attention from overseas markets.

Woosung Platech is a global cosmetic container manufacturer that produces 500 million plastic containers annually. Not only domestic cosmetics company LG Household & Health Care, but also global luxury cosmetics companies such as L'Oreal, Lancome, and Estee Lauder use plastic containers made by this company. Woosung Platech holds a patent for “Manufacturing method for PET cosmetic container instead of transparent glass” and plastic processing technology. Using this technology, ECOTRIA® Claro will be used to produce cosmetic containers with excellent chemical resistance and high transparency like glass even with a thickness of 8mm.

Woosung Platech CEO Heo Nam-seon said, “The global cosmetic container market is in the era of ‘essential environment’ beyond eco-friendliness.” He added, “We plan to expand our market competitiveness by developing eco-friendly cosmetic containers with various concepts in line with the needs of recycled materials from global cosmetic companies.”

SK chemicals completed the expansion of its new copolyester (PETG) production facility at the Ulsan plant, which had been underway for the past three years, and started commercial production in July. SK chemicals is focusing on expanding its chemical recycling product portfolio in line with the expansion of the eco-friendly plastics market. To that end, SK chemicals secured exclusive rights within the Korean market for chemical-recycled materials and chemical-recycled PET products through investment shares with a Chinese plastic waste recycling business in May, and is collaborating with Huvis to produce Korea’s first “chemical-recycled polyester yarn.” SK chemicals plans to start commercial production of the chemically recycled copolyester “ECOTRIA CR” from September and to increase its sales of recycled products to 50% of total sales by 2025 and 100% by 2030.

The head of SK chemical's Copolyester Business, Kim Eung-su said, “We will strive to achieve 100% sales of new facilities as soon as possible with a high-value-added specialty market strategy and plan to further strengthen our ESG management system by expanding sales of eco-friendly materials such as chemical recycled copolyester.”





# Photo description: Cosmetic container made with patented technology using ECOTRIA CR material