SK Global Chemical acquires 10% equity stake in North American waste plastic recycling company

SK Global Chemical announced on Wednesday that the company acquired a 10 percent equity stake in Loop Industries, a North American company with waste plastic degradation and recycling technologies by investing 565 million dollars.

Loop Industries has a technology to chemically degrade contaminated PET bottles, old polyester fabric, and other materials at low temperatures and convert them back to pure ingredients. With the recent investment, SK Global Chemical has obtained the exclusive right to produce and sell recycled PET products in Asia using the technology.

The two companies will set up a joint venture company next year and begin to build a plant to process 84,000 tons of PET per year in South Korea by 2023. Their goal is to construct recycled PET production facilities in four locations in Asia, including South Korea, by 2030. Once completed, over 400,000 tons of waste PET can be processed per year in Asia alone. This is more than enough to recycle all 300,000 tons of waste PET bottles produced in South Korea per year, according to a member of SK Global Chemical.

　

Prior to the most recent investment, SK Global Chemical formed a technology partnership with and invested in Brightmark in the U.S. and made an equity investment in Eco Creation, a South Korean technology company. “We will lead the efforts to address the global issue of waste plastic by expanding our partnership with global companies specializing in plastic recycling,” said Na Kyung-soo, the CEO of SK Global Chemical.


Do-Young Kwak now@donga.com