- Plastic free of environmental hormone ? SKYGREEN PETG Resin of SK chemicals (Representative Hong Ji-ho/ www.skchemicals.com) won the 12th IR52 Chang Young-sil Award for 2002.PETG Resin is an environmentally friendly special plastic that has been rapidly replacing existing plastic materials. It has a wide range of applications including uses as sheet packing materials for electrical and electronic products, packing films, containers used by ordinary consumers, materials for IC cards, and architectural and medical materials.It is differentiated from the existing plastic materials in that it is recyclable, does not produce harmful materials when incinerated, and shows excellence in plasticity, transparency, glossiness, printability and secondary processability at a low temperature.Its market is being expanded at a rate of more than 10% every year, especially, due to the fact that industrial development results in wider use of plastic materials and new environmentally friendly materials are welcomed in most countries of the world in replacement of existing ones such as polycarbonates and PVCs, which contain environmental hormones and produce harmful toxins when incinerated. SK chemicals developed SKYGREEN PETG on its own. Eastman Chemical of the U.S. has so far been the only other developer in the world of a similar product and has, up until now, monopolized on its production over the past 20 years. SK chemicals is on a great footing for further development of the market for the environmentally friendly material as has secured its own technology for the special plastic.It took SK chemicals ten years and investment of a total of 47 billion won to develop the technology, with patent rights registered in the U.S. and Japan, as an item differentiated from that of Eastman Chemical in additives used and quality. Furthermore, it won material safety certifications in the U.S., Japan and EU countries. The certification is mandatory for use as a food packing material. It also won the ISO 10993 certification (for medical materials) and UL 94 certification (for inflammable materials).At present, the size of the PETG market worldwide is approximately 110,000 tons a year. At the end of 2000, SK chemicals built a new factory capable of producing 35,000 tons of SKYGREEN PETG resin a year. With full swing production started in April 2001, the Company posted 14 billion won in sales in the first year, accounting for a 5% share of the world market. Its present production capability and market potential enable the Company to make a forecast for a quarter (70 billion won a year) share of the entire world market. Upon completion of a second factory being planned, SK chemicals will be able to attain its goal of a 40% share of the world market for SKYGREEN PETG.-Stories Unknown So Far concerning Development of SKYGREEN PETGDevelopment of the wizard-like product SKYGREEN PETG was not without a series of 007-like episodes. A considerable number of episodes were security-related, as they were part of an attempt to throw down the gauntlets in front of the Goliath who ruled the market for the past 20 years.Security was the most sensitive issue concerning additives. SK chemicals had deleted all the information marked on packing materials related to new additives tried in production. Mr. Jeon Jae-young, a senior research fellow at the Company?s Chemical Institute, recalled, ?One day we were informed that a truck loaded with an additive purchased on an urgent basis for a test was heading to the factory without going through the Institute, where all information marked on the packing should have be deleted. It caused an uproar. We narrowly reached the truck driver at the last minute by cellular phone and directed him immediately to the Institute. It was a close call.?The process of developing the product was exacting. They had to find a way to get around the existing patent rights that the U.S. manufacturer registered all over the world. Mr. Hong Yoon-hee, the head researcher said, ?It was especially difficult to develop a new specification that maintained excellent characteristics and at the same time was not in violation with the existent patent rights. Another obsession that did not leave us alone along the way was that it should be accompanied with sufficient commerciality.? SK chemicals Institute Director Yoon In-sun said, ?It is memorable that adoption of new concept-based statistical test designs sometimes led to unexpected solutions over the past ten-year process for development of the new product.?- March 25 Issue of Maeil Business Newspaper -