SK geocentric enter ventures with Purecycle of US and Haier of China on plastic recycling

[Provided by SK Innovation]

SKgeocentric, a chemical unit of Korea’s SK Group, has entered green ventures separately with Purecycle Technologies on the U.S. and Haier Group of China for initiative in plastic recycling.

SK geocentric announced on Thursday that it had signed a joint venture agreement with its American partner Purecycle Technologies. The 50-50 venture will build a factory in Ulsan, a southeastern industrial city of Korea, targeting its completion in the second quarter of 2025.

SK will be in charge of overall operations, including marketing, sales, and quality assurance, while Purecycle will assist in ultra-pure recycled polypropylene (URP PP) technology.

Polypropylene (PP) is a widely-used material in diverse colors and forms for car interior materials, electronics, food containers, toys, and daily necessities. It accounts for around a quarter of demand for plastics, but since physical recycling has a limitation to removing impurities, colors, and odors from the used material, its recycling rate only remains below 5 percent.

PureCycle’s proprietary technology, however, makes it possible to remove contaminants, odors, and colors from waste plastics to extract ultra-pure recycled polypropylene (UPR PP).

The two firms will start Asia’s first mass production of URP PP from the Ulsan plant. SK will hold exclusive sales rights domestically and in other Asian nations, including China, Malaysia, Vietnam, and Indonesia.

SK geocentric also signed a memorandum of understanding with China’s largest home appliance maker Haier Group for cooperation in plastic recycling. They will work together to secure plastic waste from used home appliances to develop recycled products. SK will take charge of quality assurance and technical support, while Haier will secure resources. As China’s recycled PP demand will likely grow 8 percent annually by 2027, the two entities may establish a joint venture in later date.

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