SK geo centric, Veolia to expand plastic recycling business in Asia

Na Kyung-soo, SK geo centric CEO, left; Christophe Maquet, senior executive vice president for Veolia's Asia region, on screen; and Hervé Péneau, Veolia’s country director of Korea [SK GEO CENTRIC]

SK geo centric signed a deal with Veolia, a French recycling company, to expand its plastic recycling business in Asia, the company said Monday.

SK geo centric, a chemical company wholly owned by SK Innovation, said that the two companies will focus on the chemical recycling business for plastic waste.

Founded in 1853, Veolia is a Paris-based environmental service company that has about 220,000 employees worldwide. The company signed a memorandum of understanding with SK geo centric on Friday in Jongno District, central Seoul.

The two companies will conduct a joint study on plastic waste produced in Asia. Some plastic waste cannot be recycled mechanically and have to go through a chemical recycling process such as pyrolysis, which converts the plastic waste into other materials.

The companies will also cooperate on creating SK geo centric’s Ulsan factory complex, which is slated to be completed by 2024.

SK geo centric hopes to scale up its plastic waste recycling business in China, Japan and other Southeast Asian countries through a comprehensive collaboration with Veolia, but did not reveal any further details of co-projects in the future.

“We are pleased to take the first step toward a circular economy business in the Asian regions, which have a lot of potential for growth, based on the eco-friendly technology capabilities of the two companies,” said SK geo centric CEO Na Kyung-soo.

BY SHIN HA-NEE [shin.hanee@joongang.co.kr]