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Starting this year, plastic PET raw material companies must use at least 3% of recycled raw materials.
To this end, advanced technologies to recycle more waste plastics are being introduced one after another.
Reporter Jeong Ban-seok visited the scene.
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This is a waste plastic recycling exhibition held in a department store.
Products made from once-used plastics are on display, ranging from detergents and cosmetic containers to cups and tableware.
[Kim Min-seok/SK Chemicals Manager: There is no big difference in quality from existing materials, so we don't recognize whether they are actually recycled or bio-materials, and maintain high quality enough to be used.]
Domestic plastic recycling rate is 70%.
However, most of them are recovered as thermal energy in the incineration process, and it is estimated that 18% of plastics are used as plastic products again.
The government plans to increase the waste plastic recycling rate to 30% by 2030.
This year, our goal is to use 3% recycled material in our PET products.
Recently, 'chemical recycling' technology, which does not unconditionally melt waste plastic raw materials, but disassembles them into molecules and refines them, is attracting attention.
This is a detergent container that has just been made.
It is made by recycling waste plastic in a chemical way, and the quality is completely the same as the existing petrochemical material products.
The high quality of recycling allows for multiple recycling, but the manufacturing cost is an issue.
[Lee Ho-jae/CEO of plastic container manufacturer: Because the manufacturing cost is high and the price is about 1.5 times higher, I think a lot of consumer demand (looking for eco-friendly products) is needed to become popular.]
Environmental experts say 3% of recycled 'raw materials' It is pointed out that it is urgent to supplement the system that mandates recycling rate standards for final 'products' as in Europe, as well as standards.
(Video coverage: Yoon Hyung, video editing: Lee Sang-min)