[SK케미칼 특별세션] 플라스틱의 새로운 패러다임: Recyclable, Recycled, and Renewable
Abstract
Plastic recycling is a key strategy for carbon reduction and is receiving incresing attention. PET is a representative palstic material with systematic cellecting and sorting systems worldwide. Chemical recycling can recover raw materials of PET such as r-BHET, r-DMT, and r-TPA. Among these, r-TPA is particularly promising due to its compatibility with existing PET polymerization processes, allowing direct input without changes to equipment or reaction conditions. However, commercialization has been delayed due to the high contamination level of waste feedstock and the inherent purification challenges of TPA. SK Chemicals' r-TPA process has been proven capable of converting highly contaminated textile waste into r-TPA of equivalent quality of virgin TPA through the production of CR-PET and Copolyesters. A pilot plant is currently being designed based on a continuous process suitable for commericalization.