Korea Zinc, LG Chem team up for US recycling business

Korea Zinc Inc., the leading global zinc and lead smelter, and LG Chem Ltd., South Korea’s top petrochemical producer, joined hands for the plastic waste recycling business in the US to seek new growth drives in the eco-friendly industry.

Korea Zinc and LG Chem said on Friday they have agreed to jointly develop a resource circulation system through the plastic waste recycling business in the US, the world’s largest economy.

LG Chem plans to utilize its various technologies, which improve the quality of recycled plastic waste. to cooperate with Korea Zinc specializing in securing plastic waste and processing plastic waste from electronic devices.

“The partnership is expected to create a real resource circulation system by combining Korea Zinc’s unrivaled technology to secure recycling raw materials and extract intermediate goods with LG Chem’s world-class plastic waste recycling technology,” said Lee Hwa-young, head of LG Chem’s sustainability business, in a joint statement.

FUTURE GROWTH ENGINE

Korea Zinc and LG Chem have been seeking a new growth drive in the recycling industry. The global plastic waste recycling market was forecast to double to 120 trillion won ($90.3 billion) by 2030 from the current 60 trillion won, industry sources in Seoul said.

LG Chem has been struggling in its main petrochemical businesses such as plastic basic materials manufacturing as the South Korean chemical industry was in a structural downturn due to low-priced products from China.

The company decided to shut down its styrene monomer (SM) production line in South Korea this month and is mulling closing another domestic base chemical production facility, The Korea Economic Daily exclusively reported earlier this week.

Korea Zinc has also been focusing on the resource recycling business. In 2022, the smelter acquired a majority stake in Igneo Holdings LLC, a US-based electronic waste recycling company, for $332 million.

LG Chem, the parent of the world's No. 3 electric vehicle battery maker LG Energy Solution Ltd., and Korea Zinc are predicted to expand their cooperation into the waste battery recycling business, industry sources said. The two companies established a joint venture to produce cathode precursors for EV batteries in 2022.

The petrochemical producer, which holds a 2% stake in Korea Zinc, has been helping the smelter in an equity stake feud against Young Poong Precision Corp.

Write to Sang Hoon Sung at uphoon@hankyung.com
 
Jongwoo Cheon edited this article.