SK Chemicals and partners build regional recycling loop for discarded banners
Version 2: Maeil Business is added to the coverage, reporting the same project and adding that partner Upcloth runs self-sufficiency-centre-based collection and sorting and will link the work to hiring self-support and disabled workers; no previously reported fact is disputed.
In short
SK Chemicals said it has formed a waste-banner circulation project team with MOA, Daehan Media, Upcloth and Seogwipo City's resource circulation team to collect, recycle and turn discarded street banners back into banner fabric. Collection is split by region, with MOA and Daehan Media covering the Gyeongsang region, Upcloth covering Honam and Seogwipo City covering Jeju. SK Chemicals estimates more than 1,000 tonnes of waste banners are generated each year in the Yeongnam, Honam and Jeju regions.
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SK Chemicals said on Oct. 6 that it is building a region-by-region circular economy system for discarded street banners, working with four partner organisations it has formed into a “waste-banner resource circulation project team.” The partners are MOA, Daehan Media, Upcloth and the resource circulation team of Seogwipo City on Jeju, according to Asia Economy, Yonhap and Maeil Business. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
Collection is split geographically. MOA and Daehan Media are responsible for the Gyeongsang region, Upcloth for Honam and Seogwipo City for Jeju. The collected banners are sent to MOA for pre-treatment into a form and quality suitable for chemical recycling, after which SK Chemicals' depolymerisation technology converts them into raw material. Daehan Media then produces banner fabric from the recycled material and supplies it to regions across the country through its sales network, the company said. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
SK Chemicals described its depolymerisation technology as breaking waste plastic down to the molecular level and re-polymerising it into raw material. Compared with existing mechanical recycling, the method can reduce the influence of colour and impurities, the company said, which makes it applicable to fibrous waste banners. [ 1 ]
Maeil Business reported that Upcloth, which it said has experience running a collection and sorting system based on self-sufficiency centres, will also pursue local job creation linked to hiring self-support and disabled workers. [ 3 ]
On volumes, SK Chemicals estimates that more than 1,000 tonnes of waste banners are generated each year in the Yeongnam, Honam and Jeju regions. Asia Economy also cited the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment as saying that about 6,000 tonnes of waste banners are generated nationwide each year, of which roughly 70% is landfilled or incinerated; Yonhap and Maeil Business did not carry those national figures. The company said it expects the project to reduce landfilling and incineration of banners and to expand the basis for resource circulation. [ 1 , 2 ]
Seogwipo City plans to revise related regulations so that collection of waste banners and reuse of recycled banners can circulate within the region, according to Asia Economy. All three outlets reported that the project grew out of a “waste-banner treatment and circular economy” task proposed at an idea hackathon linked to the Social Value Festa, co-hosted by the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, and that the project team received the chamber's chairman's award there. Asia Economy said the event took place on Sept. 21 at COEX in Seoul. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
SK Chemicals said it intends to widen the model beyond the three regions. The company has previously cooperated on waste-banner resource projects with Gunsan, Sejong, Gangneung, Cheongju, Naju, Changwon and Seoul, Asia Economy reported. An SK Chemicals official said the company would work with participating organisations to build a banner circulation system at the level of metropolitan governments and create a case in which waste banners are turned back into banners. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
Why it matters
The project links regional collection, a chemical recycling step and a banner manufacturer into a single loop, an approach the company says it wants to widen to other regions and to metropolitan-government level. If it scales as described, it would reduce landfilling and incineration of banner waste, which the documents describe as the fate of most of the stream today. Maeil Business also reports that one partner, Upcloth, ties collection and sorting to hiring self-support and disabled workers, linking the project to local jobs.
Key facts
- SK Chemicals said on Oct. 6 that it has formed a waste-banner resource circulation project team with MOA, Daehan Media, Upcloth and the resource circulation team of Seogwipo City on Jeju. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
- Collection is divided by region: MOA and Daehan Media cover the Gyeongsang region, Upcloth covers Honam and Seogwipo City covers Jeju. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
- Collected banners are pre-treated by MOA, converted into raw material through SK Chemicals' depolymerisation technology, and made into banner fabric by Daehan Media for nationwide sale. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
- SK Chemicals estimates that more than 1,000 tonnes of waste banners are generated each year in the Yeongnam, Honam and Jeju regions. [ 1 , 2 ]
- The project team received the chairman's award of the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry at an idea hackathon held under the Social Value Festa, co-hosted by the chamber and the Ministry of the Interior and Safety. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
- Seogwipo City plans to revise related regulations so that collection through reuse of recycled banners can circulate within the region, according to Asia Economy. [ 1 ]
- Upcloth, which has experience running self-sufficiency-centre-based collection and sorting, will also pursue local job creation linked to hiring self-support and disabled workers, according to Maeil Business. [ 3 ]
Confirmed by several sources
- SK Chemicals said it has formed a waste-banner resource circulation project team with MOA, Daehan Media, Upcloth and Seogwipo City's resource circulation team. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
- Waste-banner collection is divided by region: MOA and Daehan Media in the Gyeongsang region, Upcloth in Honam and Seogwipo City in Jeju. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
- Collected banners go to MOA for pre-treatment, then through SK Chemicals' depolymerisation process, and Daehan Media produces recycled banner fabric and distributes it nationwide. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
- SK Chemicals estimates more than 1,000 tonnes of waste banners are generated each year in the Yeongnam, Honam and Jeju regions. [ 1 , 2 ]
- The project team was recognised with the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry chairman's award at an idea hackathon linked to the Social Value Festa. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]
Still unclear
- The national volume of waste banners — about 6,000 tonnes a year, of which about 70% is landfilled or incinerated only Asia Economy reports this, attributing it to the Ministry of Climate, Energy and Environment; Yonhap and Maeil Business do not mention it.
- How much banner waste the project will actually process, when it starts and what it costs none of the documents gives processing targets, a start date or investment figures.
- Whether Seogwipo City's planned regulatory changes have been adopted only Asia Economy mentions the plan, saying the city will pursue it.
- Whether the project will extend beyond the three regions named and on what schedule the company says it intends to widen the model, but the documents give no timetable or additional regions.
What local media are saying
Timeline, local time
- Asia Economy reports that SK Chemicals is building a region-by-region system to collect, recycle and reprocess discarded banners with MOA, Daehan Media, Upcloth and Seogwipo City. [ 1 ]
- Yonhap reports the same project, describing the four partner organisations and the depolymerisation route back to banner fabric. [ 2 ]
- Maeil Business reports the project, adding Upcloth's collection and sorting experience and its link to local job creation. [ 3 ]
- The waste-banner resource circulation project team receives the Korea Chamber of Commerce and Industry chairman's award at the second Local-Company Collaboration Community Problem-Solving Idea Solvethon, part of the Social Value Festa, held at COEX in Seoul. [ 1 , 2 , 3 ]