SK to build $480 mn recycling plant in France with partners

SK Geo Centric Co. is set to build a 450 million euro ($479.6 million) plastic recycling plant in France with the country’s utility company SUEZ and Canada’s chemical company Loop Industries Inc., as the petrochemical unit of South Korea’s No. 2 conglomerate SK Group aims to expand the eco-friendly business in overseas markets.

The three companies said they selected Saint-Avoid, about 370 kilometers east of Paris, as the site for a factory to manufacture 70,000 tons of 100% recycled and infinitely recyclable virgin-quality polyethylene terephthalate (PET) resin. They aim to start construction work in early 2025 with plant commissioning slated for 2027.

The project is expected to save more than 250,000 tons of carbon dioxide a year, when compared to virgin PET resin made from fossil fuels, according to the companies.

CIRCULAR ECONOMY

“It represents an innovative response to the increasing challenges of recycling plastics at the European and global level. The partnership will directly support the circular economy of plastics, closing the loop with recycled and infinitely recyclable virgin-quality PET," said SUEZ Chairman and CEO Sabrina Soussan in a statement issued on Thursday.

The plant is predicted to address the demand for recycled PET, which has continued to grow due to European regulations and requirements while providing European-based global brands with a solution to their sustainability objectives of increasing the use of recycled content in their packaging and products, the three companies said.

In June 2022, the three companies agreed to establish a joint venture for the plastic recycling business.

The project is poised to leverage SK Geo Centric’s know-how in petrochemical processes, SUEZ’s resource management expertise and Loop’s innovative depolymerization technology.

“SK Geo Centric is committed to contributing its extensive petrochemical operating experience to this strategic partnership with Loop and SUEZ which will lead to a sustainable circular economy and a low-carbon future in Europe," said SK Geo Centric CEO Na Kyung-Soo.

Write to Ik-Hwan Kim at lovepen@hankyung.com

Jongwoo Cheon edited this article.