SK Geo Centric (SKGC) has broken ground on its first plant for recyclying post-consumer PET polyester in Ulsan, South Korea.

The plant will employ the Infinite Loop technology of Canada’s Loop Industries and will  produce 70,000 tons of 100% recycled virgin-quality PET resin annually, with projected savings of over 200,000 tons of CO2 compared to virgin PET made from fossil fuels.

“Loop is proud to partner with SKGC and be an integral part of its Advanced Recycling Cluster complex in Ulsan,” said Loop founder and CEO Daniel Solomita. “After perfecting our depolymerization technology to produce virgin quality PET made from 100% recycled material and demonstrating our ability to successfully scale up our technology at our production facility in Quebec, we are now transitioning to the next stage of our strategic development.”

Loop’s technology depolymerizes no and low-value waste PET plastic and polyester fibres, including plastic bottles and packaging, carpets and textiles of any colour, transparency or condition – even ocean plastics that have been degraded by the sun and salt – back to monomers. The monomers are filtered, purified and polymerized to create virgin-quality Loop branded PET resin suitable for use in food-grade packaging and polyester fibre that can be recycled infinitely without degradation of quality.

“We initially contemplate three more facilities in our Asian joint venture with SKGC, as well as a planned facility in France, to support the commitment of our global brand partners to achieve their sustainability targets for recycled content,” said Solomita.

“Ulsan will become the backbone of the future plastic circular economy,” added Kim Jun, vice chairman and CEO of SK Innovation.

www.loopindustries.com