South Korean chemical maker SK picglobal (Seoul; www.skpicglobal.com) says it has acquired a licence to use chemical recycling technology from UK thinktank Plastic Energy (London; www.plasticenergy.com) in a pyrolysis plant it plans to bring onstream in 2025.

The agreement was announced at the CES electronic trade show in Las Vegas, which was revived as an in-person event this year after a coronavirus-related hiatus.

Called the Ulsan Advanced Recycling Cluster, the new Korean complex to be operated by group unit SK Geo Centric is to have throughput of 66,000 t/y of end-of-life plastic waste, a mark that SK said will make the facility Asia’s largest. The company added that it plans to further improve the pyrolysis oil in a post-treatment plant, leveraging its own technologies.

SK and Plastic Energy have also signed a Memorandum of Understanding for a strategic partnership to expand use of the UK firm’s TAC (thermal anaerobic conversion) process in selected Asian countries. An initial step calls for establishing a joint venture to develop opportunities in China, Japan and other key markets.

Furthermore, the South Korean group has agreed to strategic collaborations for its recycling complex with globally operating North American companies PureCycle Technologies (Orlando, Florida; www.purecycle.com) and PET depolymerisation specialist Loop Industries (Terrebonne, Quebec, Canada; www.loopindustries.com).

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In line with equity investments in the two North American partners, SK said it has also secured exclusive sales rights to leverage the companies’ knowhow for use in much of Asia, including China.