Plastic Recycling : SK Global commits to Closed Loop Circular Plastics funds with $10 million

SK Global Chemical plans to contribute $10 million in two separate plastic recycling funds run by New York based investment firm Closed Loop Partners.

The global petrochemical company is set to allocate said sum to the recently launched Closed Loop Circular Plastics Fund and the Closed Loop Leadership Fund.

The Closed Loop Circular Plastics Fund, established by Dow, LyondellBasell and Nova Chemicals this past May is intended to advance the recovery of polyethylene and polypropylene in the US and Canada as well as facilitate equipment upgrades and infrastructure solutions.

The Closed Loop Leadership Fund is a private equity fund intended to financially support companies in the US seeking to upgrade their recycling infrastructure so as to improve the recovery and reuse of valuable materials across the entire supply chain.

SK Global Chemical, one of the largest conglomerates in South Korea, has committed itself to recycling 900, 000 tonnes of plastic scrap annually by 2025.

In a press release, Na Kyung-soo, CEO of SK Global, stated: “As a plastics manufacturer, we recognize our responsibility in transforming plastics supply chains to collect and reuse existing materials, and know that collaborating across industries is essential to system-wide impact. We look forward to working with Closed Loop Partners and their network to drive toward our shared goals.”

The plastics giant has also formed partnerships with North American companies utilising chemical recycling, an advanced recycling process that uses high temperature and pressure to turn consumer plastic into reusable critical materials.

In future, the company also plans to spend $500 million on its own ‘cutting edge advanced plastics recycling plant’, to be built in South Korea by 2025.