Korea’s petrochemical, cement industries at odds over waste plastics

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A debate is heating up between South Korea’s petrochemical and cement industries over access to waste plastics.

The petrochemical industry argues that recycling waste plastics is essential to achieving carbon neutrality and that the cement industry must stop burning waste plastics that could be used for recycling. However, the cement industry counters that it has no other option due to cost issues.

According to the petrochemical industry on Monday, the Korea Petrochemical Industry Association recently informed the government of its opinion that cement companies should stop burning waste plastic. Producing cement requires heating raw materials such as limestone using a temperature of more than 1,400 degrees Celsius, and the cement industry has been burning waste plastic and waste vinyl as a heat source.

The petrochemical industry is rushing to produce recycled plastics as major countries mandate their use. Last year, the European Commission issued a directive that 30 percent of the raw material for plastic containers must be made from recycled plastics by 2030. “Global customers are demanding the use of recycled plastics, even with the higher cost, so the industry is rushing to prepare for production,” a petrochemical industry official said. “The issue is that much of the domestic waste plastic is burned by the cement industry and there is a shortage of raw materials for recycling.”

The petrochemical industry estimates that the plant for plastic recycling and pyrolysis oil currently under construction in Korea will, once completed, generate demand worth at least 4 million tons of plastic waste per year. Currently, most of the plastic waste in the country is incinerated, making it difficult to secure even 1 million tons per year. A second reason the cement industry burns waste plastics is Korea’s mandate to collect them separately to be incinerated or recycled, but incineration was promoted to reduce the amount of waste plastics in landfills at a time when there was insufficient preparation for recycling.

The cement industry says it has been burning waste plastics to reduce landfills and recycle them as a heat source. It is estimated that the amount of combustible waste used by the cement industry has increased to 2.3 million tons in 2021 from 1.3 million tons in 2019.

“If we increase the burning of soft coal besides waste plastics, the cost will increase significantly,” a cement industry official said. Currently, the cement industry profits from the disposal charges it receives for burning plastic waste. It is ironic that one industry is making money from burning waste plastics while the other is facing a shortage of recycled materials.

The government believes that the cement industry needs to switch its heat source to reduce carbon emissions. “The carbon emissions and pollutants generated by burning waste plastics in the cement industry are a problem,” a government official argued. “The alternative is to burn soft coal instead of waste plastics, but there are cost issues.” Even if soft coal is used for the raw material, the process still emits carbon and pollutants.

If the cement industry continues to burn waste plastics, domestic petrochemical companies will be forced to buy waste plastics from overseas. “The domestic petrochemical industry is conscious of the unstable raw material supply and is even considering building plants in China,” another petrochemical industry official said. In fact, SK chemicals Co. is preparing to produce recycled raw materials in China in a joint venture with Chinese company Shuye Environmental Technology Co.

“Importing waste plastics that have undergone primary processing overseas will not be recognized as domestic carbon reduction,” another industry official said. “We should get going to secure recycled raw materials at home.”

According to McKinsey & Co. and market research firm IHS Markit Ltd., global demand for recycled waste plastic is expected to reach 96 million tons in 2025, while supply will be a mere 27 million tons.