About 50,000 tons of marine wastes, such as discarded fish nets, are generated every year in Korea. But collecting the wastes has been difficult due to the costs of discarding, and even if they are collected, it has been difficult to treat. Therefore, most of the wastes were left neglected or incinerated.

LG Chem has entered into an MOU for building a resource circulation system by recycling marine wastes with NETSPA, a leading company in resource circulation.

LG Chem will use marine wastes to produce plastics.

Through this MOU, LG Chem will be able to stably secure raw materials for its Seokmun National Industrial Park pyrolysis oil plant in Dangjin, Chungnam, which is scheduled to begin operations in 2024. NETSPA will sort and process plastics from marine wastes and LG Chem will then use them to produce recycled plastics.

The two companies hope to not only protect the marine ecosystem but also reduce carbon emissions through this resource circulation partnership.

The companies anticipate that using it as materials for recycled plastic will help reduce marine wastes while reducing carbon emissions by three-fold compared to other fossil fuel-based products.

KUG LAE, NOH, LG Chem Petrochemicals Company President, stated, “We will further accelerate eco-friendly technologies and businesses for sustainable growth in the future such as marine waste resource circulation.”