SK Chemicals to Take the Lead in the $7.6 Billion Recycled PET Market

Signed a $100 million asset purchase agreement with Shuye of China; secured the world's first mass production system for recycled raw materials and PET The abundant supply of recycled plastic raw materials enables SK chemicals to have the highest level of price competitiveness

SEONGNAM, South Korea, March 16, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- SK chemicals accelerates its entry into the global market and business expansion with the world's first chemically recycled BHET (r-BHET) of 70,000MT and chemically recycled PET (CR-PET) of 50,000MT production systems.

SK chemicals announced on the 6th that it held a board of directors meeting and signed an asset transfer agreement related to the chemically recycled BHET and chemically recycled PET business division of Shuye, a Chinese company specializing in green materials. The acquisition price for this deal is approximately $100 million.

SK chemicals' acquisition of Shuye's assets includes a depolymerization plant that chemically decomposes waste plastics to produce recycled BHET and a CR-PET production facility that uses the r-BHET produced here to make PET again, which can be sold separately. As a result, SK chemicals has secured the world's first commercially available polyester chemically recycled raw materials and production facility, which can be sold separately.

Through the acquisition of Shuye's assets, SK chemicals has obtained a commercial production system for chemically recycled BHET and products that utilize depolymerization technology about 1-2 years ahead of other domestic companies. By producing recycled plastic raw materials such as waste PET in China, where there is abundant supply, SK chemicals is expected to gain a high level of price competitiveness.

Through this investment, SK chemicals has completed a recycled plastic value chain that extends to chemically recycled BHET, chemically recycled PET, and chemically recycled copolyester (CR-Copolyester), securing the sustainability of copolyester, which is its core business, and laying the groundwork for new growth.

SK chemicals' strategy is to supply chemically recycled PET to the domestic and foreign food and beverage bottle markets, as well as the food packaging market. In addition, the company plans to enter high-value-added markets, such as industrial specialty fibers, where the use of physically recycled PET is difficult, and take the lead in the global $7.6 billion market. The company also plans to sell the chemically recycled BHET as a standalone product to polyester manufacturers who want to produce recycled products.