Dongkuk CM develops world's first recycled color-coated steel sheets

Dongkuk Coated Metal Co. (Dongkuk CM), a cold-rolled steel subsidiary of Dongkuk Steel Mill Co., announced on Wednesday that it has succeeded in developing the world's first technology for manufacturing color-coated steel sheets using recycled plastic waste as a raw material.

The new technology developed by Dongkuk CM increases environmental friendliness by recycling plastic waste instead of using paint and other coating materials in the manufacturing of color-coated steel sheets. According to a company official, producing one ton of "Re-born Green Color-coated Steel Sheets" with this technology can recycle the equivalent of over 100 500 ml PET bottles.

Re-born Green color-coated steel sheets can achieve the same appearance and functionality as existing products. The properties related to shape changes, such as those encountered in appliances like washing machines, dryers and refrigerators, have also been secured, making it highly versatile in industrial applications.

The company emphasized that the new technology sets itself apart by applying it to the production of electrically based hot-rolled steel sheets, a process requiring high technical expertise. Processing color-coated steel sheets in an electric furnace is considered a challenging task in the steel industry, but Dongkuk CM explained that it successfully achieved color-coating on electrically produced hot-rolled steel sheets, a first in the industry, showcasing its research and development capabilities.

"The newly developed technology is capable of responding to the European Union's Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM)," said a company official. He expressed his company's ambition to achieve 2 trillion won ($1.55 billion) in color-coated steel-related sales and establish a production system of 1 million tons by 2030.

Write to Jae-Fu Kim at hu@hankyung.com