Kolon Industries and SK Global Chemical are cooperating to launch eco-friendly biodegradable plastic product PBAT (Polybuthylene Adipate-co-Terephthalate) in the third quarter of 2021.

PBAT is an environmental-friendly plastic product that quickly degrades through oxygen, heat, light, and enzyme reaction in nature. Conventional plastic products take nearly a century, in general, to degrade naturally, but PBAT products are known to be able to naturally degrade within six months after being buried.

Kolon Industries and SK Global Chemical have decided to officially launch high-quality PBAT products within the third quarter this year by concentrating the chemical process technology, which each of the companies has accumulated for years.

The two companies plan to complete the biodegradability certification of PBAT products and patent applications at home (South Korea) and abroad, as well as developing prototypes by the first half of this year.

Kolon will share its PBAT production technology, based on Korea’s top-class nylon and polyester product manufacture technology, and the facility operation know-hows. SK Global Chemical is planning to make full use of its position as Korea’s only PBAT raw material manufacturer/supplier and upgrade the high-quality PBAT production technology by combining the eco-friendly packaging material field technologies accumulated so far.

Kolon Industries and SK Global Chemical aim to produce more than 50,000 tons of PBAT per year, which is the largest scale in Korea, by 2023.

Jang Hee-goo, CEO, Kolon Industries said, “Kolon Industries will keep on expanding the development of sustainable materials in consideration of the environment.”

“SK Global Chemical and Kolon Industries will work together to secure differentiated competitiveness in the biodegradable plastic market and speed up together to build an eco-friendly circular economy of plastic waste,” Na Kyung-soo, CEO, SK Global Chemical, said.