Kolon Industries Pioneers the Eco-Friendly Material Market with PET Regeneration Technology

• Concluding an MOU with Korea Clothing and Textile Recycling Association to establish a textile circulation system
• Developing high-quality PET regeneration technology applicable to all plastic products from PET containers to clothing

Kolon Industries (CEO Jang Hee-goo) announced on the 19^th that it concluded an MOU with Korea Clothing and Textile Recycling Association (Chairperson Koo Seong-ja) at Kolon One & Only Tower to develop and undertake projects related to eco-friendly plastic regeneration technology.

In order to help resolve the global issue of plastic waste, Kolon Industries is focusing on the development of eco-friendly PET regeneration technology. The existing heat treatment-based recycling process has limited applicability and is likely to incur additional environmental problems such as the emission of harmful substances. However, the new PET dismantling method being developed by the Kolon Future Technology Institute is evaluated to be more environmentally responsible as it can reduce energy consumption by 33% and CO₂ emissions by over 38% with its chemical regeneration technology compared to the existing recycling process.

PET is found in plastic products, clothing, and textiles. Kolon Industries’ PET regeneration technology is expected to garner acclaim in the eco-friendly material market as it is engineered to dismantle recycled PET to the level of ultrapure materials and regenerate PET useable for all products regardless of the type and contamination level of the recycled materials.

Kolon Industries anticipates that the Association’s waste clothing and waste textile management network will help secure recycled materials on a stable basis and advance the early commercialization of the technology and the creation of a circular economy ecosystem through this MOU.

Kolon Industries plans to aggressively expand its business scope in the PET regeneration market throughout the future. Its goal is to install the pilot PET chemical regeneration facility in 2020 and mass production equipment by 2023 and start expanding its mass production plant in 2025, thereby strengthening its foothold in the recycled PET market.

Kolon Industries’ FnC launched RE;CODE in early 2012, an upcycling brand that instills new value into discarded clothes. In the early days, it focused mainly on dismantling and redesigning the three-year-old inventory of FnC’s brands on the verge of being incinerated. Recently, the range of upcycled materials has continued to grow to encompass military uniforms, parachutes, and airbags. Furthermore, FnC’s eight brands collaborated and released Upcycling Sweetshirts made with textile generated from waste PET last October. RE;CODE is expected to grow into a total upcycling solution brand that enables the production of clothing with materials regenerated using Kolon Industries’ technologies and the regeneration of PET from such clothing.

Director Han Seong-su of the Kolon Future Technology Institute said, “The environmental issues connected to waste plastics are critical tasks facing humanity, and corporations equipped with advanced technologies such as Kolon Industries must take the lead. The Kolon Future Technology Institute remains dedicated to developing related technologies and joining hands with local and international partners through various projects.”