Workers sort plastic waste at a recycling center in Busan, 453 km southeast of Seoul, on Dec. 24, 2020. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Sept. 17 (Korea Bizwire) — SKC Inc., a chemical manufacturing arm of SK Group, is stepping up to develop and commercialize biodegradable LIMEX, which will dramatically cut down the use of plastic.
The company said Thursday that it has joined hands with Japanese eco-friendly materials developer TBM Co. to produce SK TBM Geostone.
The new joint venture will begin R&D projects and facility investments to commercialize eco-friendly biodegradable LIMEX aiming for mass production in 2023.
Biodegradable LIMEX is an eco-friendly material that combines limestone with biodegradable poly butylene adipate-co-terephthalate (PBAT) and poly lactic acid (PLA), which can replace various kinds of plastic.
The new LIMEX will be developed by combining TBM’s LIMEX technology with SKC’s biodegradable materials technology.
LIMEX consists of more than 50 percent of limestone combined with plastic materials like polyethylene and polypropylene, cutting down the use of plastic.
Biodegradable LIMEX goes step further to replace all plastic materials with biodegradable materials like PBAT and PLA to maximize its eco-friendly features.
It can consist of up to 80 percent limestone, which is easily available and affordable, raising price competitiveness.
M. H. Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
