■ Completing its financial story by executing ESG management through recycled containers of lubricants products

■ Recycling 100 tons of containers for flagship lubricants products, planning to expand the scale in the future

– Completed test with ZIC ZERO last year, which resulted in reducing 21 tons of plastic

■ Plans to lead the global lubricant market by pursuing the eco-friendly trend from lubricants to product containers

As a part of its practical ESG management efforts to fulfill the financial story, SK Lubricants announced on the 21st that the company decided to expand the use of “eco-friendly” recycled plastic containers for its lubricant products, leading the activation of the circular plastic economy.

SK Lubricants, a subsidiary of SK Innovation, said that the company will use recycled containers for the best-seller products lines including SK ZIC X7 and SK ZIC X7000, which account for 30% of the total amount of lubricant products it sells.

After launching the ZIC ZERO line that has been using recycled containers for a year, SK Lubricants found out that the market and its customers have great demand for eco-friendly products. This motivates the company to expand to more lines, and this will greatly raise the company’s total use of eco-friendly containers. Last year, SK Lubricants reused 21 tons of waste plastic to make containers of ZIC ZERO. With the decision to use recycled plastic for more of its main products, it is expected that the company will recycle about 100 tons of waste plastic every year. It is equivalent to 5 million bottles of 500ml water bottles that weighs 20g each.

SK Lubricants’ expanded use of recycled containers is in line with the “Green Transformation” strategy of the SK Innovation. Also, it is part of the measures to achieve its Net Zero goal through this green project.

SK Lubricants’ eco-friendly containers are recycled products made from waste plastic, researched and developed through a collaboration with SK Global Chemical, another subsidiary of SK Innovation. Everything including the cap and the label are made of mono-material, PE-based recycled plastic, making it easy to recycle. The company has been granted sustainable product certification from UL (Underwriters Laboratories), a global certification institution.

SK Lubricants will begin the production of ZIC X7 and SK ZIC X7000 products with eco-friendly containers on the 21st and launch them in August. Additionally, the company will keep expanding the use of these containers to more products while also continuing to research and develop other product lines in which carbon emission will be much reduced. To do this, the company will continue its cooperative research with SK Innovation and SK Global Chemical to expand the circular plastic economy.

Meanwhile, SK Lubricants, leading the global lubricant market with an eco-friendly trend, is sharing its own technology and know-how of making eco-friendly containers with the industry to contribute to expanding the waste plastic circular ecosystem with a broader point of view.

“SK Lubricants, already leading the future market of lubricant with ultra-low viscosity lubricants, which greatly reduces carbon emission and lubricants for EV. Now, the company’s effort to use more eco-friendly recycled containers will make SK Lubricants a major eco-friendly company that leads the ESG era of the lubricant industry,” said Lee Jung-woo, Chief of Lubricants Business Supply Business Unit of SK Lubricants.

[Photo] SK Innovation employees introduce the eco-friendly products of SK Lubricants