SK Chemicals and Kelinle to build waste-to-feedstock recycling facility in China

SK Chemicals and Chinese plastics recycling firm Kelinle are establishing a Feedstock Innovation Center (FIC) in Shaanxi province, China.

FIC operates differently from mechanical recycling companies that use PET bottles as feedstock. The facility will convert fine particles generated during PET bottle crushing into feedstock for chemical recycling. The companies share that the facility will also be the “world’s first” to commercially convert waste bedding materials. 

The center will be established on approximately 4,000 ping (13,220 square meters) of Kelinl-owned land in Shaanxi to process waste into PET pellets. The processing facility will enable SK Chemicals to secure an integrated value chain, from waste plastics procurement to the production of chemically recycled materials. 

Ahn Jae-hyun, CEO at SK Chemicals, says: “The cost advantage gained by converting difficult-to-recycle waste into resources will help break through the price barrier that has historically kept recycled plastics more expensive than petroleum-based materials.”

Advancing circularity

SK Chemicals is said to be capable of recovering hard-to-recycle waste, such as textiles, fiberfill, and colored PET bottles, for use as feedstock.

“Unlike physical recycling methods that shred waste plastics for reuse, depolymerization-based technology breaks down waste plastics at the molecular level to achieve properties and quality identical to petroleum-based materials,” according to the company.

The facility’s initial annual PET output will be of approximately 16,000 metric tons and will gradually scale up to 32,000 metric tons per year, supplying most of the raw material required by SK Chemical’s facility in Shantou, China.

“We are investing approximately US$100 million in Shantou, China, to build a chemical PET project with an annual capacity of 70,000 metric tons. Leveraging our production expertise and established market presence, the project aims to meet customer demand for high-quality recycled materials,” SK Chemicals says.

The global materials giant has been expanding in the international market. It introduced cosmetic containers that implement its Circular Recycle technologies and materials at China Beauty Expo 2024 in Shanghai.

Last year, the company entered the US medical packaging market by unveiling its circular recycling solution at the Medical Design & Manufacturing West 2024 exhibition in California.