SK Global Chemical – a subsidiary of SK Innovation, the Korean Packaging Society, along with other private, public, and academic institutions related to the packaging industry gathered for the establishment of ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) in the packaging industry by building a circular economy via reduction of packaging waste.

| 2020 Korea Eco-friendly Packaging Forum

SK Global Chemical held the “2020 Korea Eco-friendly Packaging Forum” for two days on November 18 and 19 with the Korea Packaging Association at Walkerhill Hotel and Arcadia, Seoul, Korea.

 ▲ 2020 Korea Eco-Friendly Packaging Forum took place at Walkerhill Hotel in Seoul, Korea in two days (Nov 18^th and 19^th)

This forum took a step forward from the last year’s “Eco-friendly Forum for Plastic Packaging Materials” hosted by SK Global Chemical. This year, as the need to solve the waste plastic problem emerged due to the increase in demand for parcel delivery due to COVID-19, the participation of government agencies, academia, and companies that shared the common concern increased significantly, expanding to a pan-national event.

2020 Korea Eco-friendly Packaging Forum was hosted by the Korean Packaging Society and organized by six companies and government agencies, including SK Global Chemical, Korea Food Industry Association, LogisAll Group, Korea Construction & Living Environment Testing Institute, Korea Packaging Recycling Mutual Aid Association, and Korea Biomaterials Packaging Association. It and was sponsored by six government agencies including the Ministry of Environment, National Institute of Environmental Sciences, Korea Environmental Industry and Technology Institute, Korea Environmental Policy Evaluation Research Institute, Korea Environment Corporation, and Korea Circular Resource Distribution Support Center. SK Global Chemical participated as a hosting company last year, and this year, it was the only host in the petrochemical industry.

The 2020 Korea Eco-friendly Packaging Forum started with an opening remark by Dr. Yoo Young-sook from KIST (Korea Institute of Science and Technology), former Minister of Environment, then followed by a congratulatory comment by Lee Hyung-hee, Head of the SV Committee under SK SUPEX Council, who is in charge of ESG of SK Group.

(*) Byeongshintawe (變新打危): any difficulty or crisis can be overcome with new transformation (Chinese idiom)

(**) Buwejeongkyong (扶危定傾): correct the mistakes to save the country at the time of crisis (Chinese idiom)

| A forum of discussion for a sustainable packaging industry ecosystem

Under the theme of “Circular Economic Thru Packaging Waste Zero,” the forum was dividied into six sessions in two days.

1^st Day | Exploring ways to reduce packaging and recycle

The first session under the theme of Government Policy: Ministry of Environment was followed by a keynote presentation on global circularity trends and policies of academia and the Ministry of Environment, and national circularity policies and directions for realizing a green transition.

 ▲ The first session under the theme of Government Policy: Ministry of Environment. Photos of Professor Lee Chan-hee of Seoul National University (left) and Lee Chae-eun, Manager of Resources Circulation Policy Division, Ministry of Environment (right).

In the second session, under the theme of Reduce & Redesign: Brand Owner, CJ CheilJedang, Maeil Dairy, and others introduced the eco-friendly activities of each company and sought cooperation plans to reduce packaging waste.

 ▲ The second session under the theme of Reduce & Redesign: Brand Owner. Photos of SPC PACK Researcher Ahn Deok-jun (left), Senior Researcher Bae Yeon-jung, Seoul National University (right).

Under the supervision of SK Global Chemical, the third session was held in the afternoon under the theme of Recycling: Material Supplier & Convertor. Kang Seon-young, CTO of SK Global Chemical presented the development of the SK’s ZIC ZERO package, which, from the container to the cap and sticker, is made of recycled plastics. She continued by introducing the development of one-material packaging material that can convert multi-layer films mixed with different materials into a single recyclable one, and strengthen physical properties through mechanical processing.

 ▲ (Left) Kang Seon-young, CTO of SK Global Chemical at the third session under the theme of “Recycling: Material Supplier & Convertor” / (Right) The eco-friendly engine oil with eco-friendly containers SK ZIC ZERO products.

Following that, Cho Sang-hyun, TL of SK Innovation Research Institute for Technology Innovation, presented a recent successful case of pyrolysis oil technology that extracts petrochemical raw materials from waste plastics and turns them into prototypes of chemical products such as fine chemicals and lubricant base oils.

 ▲ (Left) Cho Sang-hyun, Senior Manager of R&D Innovation Office, SK Innovation Research Institute for Technology Innovation at the third session on the theme of Recycling: Material Supplier & Convertor. / (Right) Researchers from SK Innovation Institute of Technology hold the prototypes of waste plastics, pyrolysis oil, and solvents used as recycled raw materials.

SK Global Chemicals has accelerated the research and development of eco-friendly packaging materials in cooperation with the customer companies of not only the first round but also the second and third one. As a result, the company could develop a “Down Gauging” material that can reduce the use of plastic by reducing the thickness and weight of the packaging film and develop eco-friendly PE materials that are easy to recycle to replace the existing PVC. SK Global Chemical plans to continue to collaborate with more companies and institutions to develop eco-friendly packaging to build a circular economy.

There was also a panel discussion that share in-depth thoughts regarding the direction for packaging in each session at the forum on the first day. The third session was chaired by Shim Jin-ki, Head of the Packaging Technology Center of the Korea Institute of Industrial Technology and discussed by various participants, including Kang Seon-Young, CTO of SK Global Chemical. The participants shared a variety of opinions on what the problem is with recycling and what improvements are needed to ensure the plastic recycling can continue well.

 ▲ (Left) Panel discussion on the topic of the 3rd session / (Right) Kang Seon-Young in speech, CTO of SK Global Chemical

The first day was wrapped up with a closing speech of CEO & President of SK Global Chemical Na Kyung-soo. He expressed his gratitude to the public, government, and academia for voluntarily participating in the forum to solve the issues of waste plastics.

 ▲ Closing comment of CEO & President of SK Global Chemical Na Kyung-soo

2^nd Day | Discussing the checklists for eco-friendly packaging

The second day of the forum, held on the 19th, began with a session under the theme of Reuse : Distribution & Logistics. Through this, the Certification & Regulation session was to review domestic and overseas laws and policy trends related to eco-friendly packaging, pointing out policies related to reusable packaging materials. The 2020 Korea Eco-Friendly Packaging Forum ended with the Safety & Other Issues session, which presented directions for food packaging material safety management and sustainable packaging.

Besides, the eco-friendly products of participating organizations and companies were exhibited at the forum. In particular, SK Global Chemical presented examples of eco-friendly solutions based on the 3R (Reduce/Replace/Recycle) strategy, and Somuna – a social venture supported by SK Innovation, exhibited the  Non-Motorized Vehicle Battery Electronic Control System that attracted a lot of attention.

 ▲ (Left) A petrochemical prototype using ‘SK ZIC ZERO’ and pyrolysis oil exhibited at SK Global Chemical booth. / (Right) Non-Motorized Vehicle Battery Electronic Control System model displayed at Somuna’s booth.

Considering the COVID-19 situation, the forum also introduced an online live broadcast to minimize the number of offline attendees. In two days of the event, there were about 100 companies, government agencies, and academia that participated in concerns to solve the environmental problems of waste plastics online and offline.