• The companies will revitalize recycling by recovering transparent plastic bottles at home using delivery container recovery infrastructure
• SK chemicals will produce high-quality recycled PET from the collected PET bottles and reuse them as upcycled products

SK chemicals will cooperate with Hwaseong and Korea Gyeonggido Co., Ltd. to build a PET bottle recycling ecosystem.

SK chemicals(CEO: Kwang-hyun) announced on the 23rd that the companies signed a business agreement to revitalize the recycling of transparent PET bottles using the public delivery app “Special Delivery” at the Dongtan branch in Hwaseong. Seo Cheol-mo (Mayor of Hwaseong), Lee Seok-hoon (CEO of Korea Gyeonggido Co., Ltd.), and Kim Hyun-suk (Head of SK chemicals Green Chemicals Business Headquarters) attended the signing.

According to the agreement, Hwaseong and Korea Gyeonggido Co., Ltd. will collect transparent PET bottles from households and provide them to SK chemicals by utilizing the recovery infrastructure of the Special Delivery’s multi-use delivery container project, which has been in effect since July this year in Dongtan New Town, Hwaseong. SK chemicals plans to process the collected bottles into recycled PET (r-PET) and use it as a raw material for copolyester production or supply recycled PET (r-PET) to manufacturers of recycled products such as bags, clothing, and containers.

Gyeonggi Province signed an agreement with the Ministry of Environment, Hwaseong, Korea Gyeonggido Co., Ltd., Korea Food Service Industry Federation, and Green Korea United to create a culture of using multi-use delivery and packaging food containers. Gyeonggi Province has also been conducting a pilot project since July of this year in Dongtan New Town where food is delivered to customers in multi-use containers through the Gyeonggi Province’s public delivery app Special Delivery and then the used containers are collected and washed.

SK chemicals expects to secure high-quality PET raw materials through this cooperation. On average, hundreds of tons of plastic waste are thrown out every day. However, it is challenging to secure high-quality recycled materials due to contamination during the collection, sorting, and recycling process. SK chemicals and Hwaseong plan to collect 100 tons of high-quality transparent plastic bottles in 2022 using the Special Delivery app and expand to other local governments in Gyeonggi Province in 2023 to collect more than 1,000 tons of transparent plastic bottles. The recovered PET bottles will be recycled into high-quality recycled PET (r-PET) to replace high-quality recycled PET imported from foreign countries for major Korean cosmetic packaging and recycling textile production.

An SK chemicals official said, “The collection and sorting steps are one of the important value chains to secure a stable supply of recyclable waste plastics,” and “Following the cooperation with Hwaseong, we will expand the related PET bottle recycling ecosystem through cooperation with various companies and organizations.”

Meanwhile, SK chemicals plans to engage in external collaborations to expand its plastic recycling ecosystem. Last August, SK chemicals signed a business agreement with Jeju Province Development Corporation to collect high-quality Samdasoo transparent plastic bottles and jointly develop chemical recycled PET (CR PET) bottled water.


# Photo description: On the 23rd, SK chemicals, Hwaseong, and Korea Gyeonggido Co., Ltd. signed a “business agreement to establish a PET bottle recycling ecosystem”. Kim Hyun-suk (Head of SK chemicals Green Chemicals Business Headquarters, left), Seo Cheol-mo (Mayor of Hwaseong, center), and Lee Seok-hoon (CEO of Korea Gyeonggido Co., Ltd., right) pose for a commemorative photo. Photo credit: SK chemicals.