LG Chem investing ₩2.6T to build 10 environmentally-friendly plants in South Korea

LG Chem will be investing ₩2.6 trillion or around $2.2 billion as part of its plans to scale up its local manufacturing capacity for environmentally safe materials. The South Korean chemical company unveiled this project on Thursday, Aug. 19.

According to Yonhap News Agency, LG Chem’s goal is to set up a number of these facilities by the year 2028. To be more specific, it will be constructing 10 new chemical plants in Seosan, South Chungcheong Province, that will produce biodegradable materials and others that are used in renewable energy.

Some examples of these materials are the PBAT or the polybutylene adipate-co-terephthalate, a biodegradable plastic that is commonly utilized in making compostable packaging, and the POE or the polyolefin elastomer, which is used in making footwear, wire coatings, photovoltaic films, auto exteriors, and more.

“This investment agreement is a part of the sustainable growth strategy and a signal to announce the full-fledged scale-up of the eco-friendly material business,” Hak Cheol Shin, LG Chem’s chief executive officer, said in a statement. “We will not only strengthen our long-standing partnership with Chungnam Province and Seosan City but also raise the level of cooperation one step further to grow together toward a sustainable future.”

It was mentioned that LG Chem will be breaking ground for the construction of its new PBAT factory and POE plants before this year ends. The aim is to start the commercial operations of these facilities in 2024.

It was added that each POE facility was designed to produce 10,000 tons of eco-friendly materials annually. This amount will raise the company’s total production to 380,000 tons per year and will make LG Chem the no. 2 POE supplier in the world. The firm revealed that it would allocate ₩480 billion for the PBAT factories, and the same amount will be spent on the POE plants, as per The Korea Economic Daily.

Finally, LG Chem and the major local officials from the city of Seosan have gathered on Thursday to sign their investment agreement. The contract will legally allow LG’s chemical arm to lease 790,000 square meters of land for the construction of the said factories.