SK Incheon Petrochem gets greener with new acquisition

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SK Incheon Petrochem gets greener with new acquisition

SK Incheon Petrochem CEO Choi Yun-seok, center, and executive officials from LD Carbon and Korea Development Bank pose for a photo after signing a purchase agreement Friday at SK Incheon Petrochem's headquarters in Incheon. [SK INNOVATION]

SK Incheon Petrochem CEO Choi Yun-seok, center, and executive officials from LD Carbon and Korea Development Bank pose for a photo after signing a purchase agreement Friday at SK Incheon Petrochem's headquarters in Incheon. [SK INNOVATION]

SK Incheon Petrochem has acquired LD Carbon, a Seoul-based start-up with technologies for recycling waste tires, the company said Sunday. 
 
The move is part of the oil refinery's effort to diversify its business portfolio to recycling, away from the traditional petrochemical sectors which are slowing down. 
 
The size of the investment has not been announced. SK Incheon Petrochem is a wholly owned subsidiary of SK Innovation. 
 
Established in 2017, LD Carbon is a materials company that owns technologies to make green carbon black, which is manufactured by refining, processing and commercializing combustion residues.
 

It is an eco-friendly product that can be recycled as a raw material for tires and mechanical rubber products.
 
With the latest investment, LD Carbon will establish a new facility producing tire pyrolysis oil, which is produced as waste tires decompose. Korea Development Bank will also help it by issuing new convertible bonds. 
 
LD Carbon will supply SK Incheon Petrochem its tire pyrolysis oil, which the petrochemical company can then use to make 20,000 tons of eco-friendly products per year starting in the first half of next year. 
 
About 400,000 tons of waste tires are landfilled in Korea every year, causing soil and water pollution that is hazardous to the environment, the company said.
 
"With the latest investment in LD Carbon, SK Incheon Petrochem will be able to secure know-how on tire pyrolysis oil to expand our position in the related industry," said SK Incheon Petrochem CEO Choi Yun-seok. 
 
"We will endeavor to grow as a company that is helpful to our environment and society through expanding our eco-friendly business portfolio based on resource circulation." 
 
Choi signed the deal with Hwang Yong-kyung and Baek Seong-mun, CEOs of LD Carbon, Friday at SK Incheon Petrochem's headquarters in Incheon. 
   

BY SARAH CHEA [chea.sarah@joongang.co.kr]
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