SK Innovation Korea will invest USD 1.2 billion in a new Ulsan chemical recycling plant

South Korea's SK Innovation said in a statement on Tuesday that it will invest about 1.
7 trillion won ($1.
2 billion) to build a plastic chemical recycling plant
in Ulsan, South Korea, by the second half of 2025.

The plant covers an area of 215,000 square meters and is expected to have a recycling capacity of about 250,000 tons/year, and will have three chemical recycling processes, namely extraction, depolymerization and pyrolysis
of high-purity polypropylene (PP).

Polyethylene (PE)/PP, polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and composites can be recycled at the facility
.

The plant will be operated
by SK Geo centre, a subsidiary of SK Innovations.

The Korea Herald, citing an official at the SK Geo centre, reported that construction of the plant will begin in September 2023 and is expected to produce about 220,000 tons of "pure plastic"
per year when completed and put into operation.

In January, SK Geo centre and U.
S.
recycling services company PureCycle agreed to build a 60,000-tonne/year joint venture plant for recycling polypropylene (PP) on a decomposition basis in Ulsan, scheduled for completion
by the end of 2024.

PureCycle has patented technology that helps separate pollutants, odors and colors from PP plastic waste and convert them into ultra-pure recycled (UPR) plastics
.

The Ulsan plastic recycling plant is part of SK Innovation's total investment target of KRW 5 trillion over the next 5 years, and the company is accelerating its net-zero emission goal
.
Of this amount, KRW 3 trillion will be used to increase the production of environmentally friendly products through the renovation and expansion of production
facilities.

"As a direct energy resource, there is no substitute for petroleum products, so it plans to replace production facilities and recycle
the petroleum products already produced in the medium to long term," the company said.
”