German Retail Sales Drop 3.4% in July 
Aon Nears $17 Billion Deal to Buy USI Insurance From KKR 
US Tech Giants’ AI Bond Boom Raises Euro Zone Borrowing Risks 
Canada Backs €100 Billion Global Defence Bank 
China Manufacturing PMI Contracts Again as Recovery Remains Fragile 
Star Entertainment Shares Fall After A$307 Million FY2026 Loss 
FTSE 100 Falls as US-Iran Conflict Drives Oil Prices Higher 
Bank of England Sees Surge in Higher-Risk Collateral 
Honda, Nissan Eye Shared Vehicle Software Platform by 2029 
Australia Current Account Deficit Widens to A$27.2 Billion 
OpenAI Nears Astra AI Model Launch With Safety Focus 
Street Poller Media and The Boom of the Street Interview Ad Industry 
Dollar Holds Near Two-Week High as Fed Rate Hike Bets Rise 
Amazon Shares Fall as FTC Plans Ad Pricing Lawsuit 
MediaTek Shares Jump 10% on Nvidia’s $3.5 Billion Investment 
BP Names Ian Tyler Permanent Chairman After Governance Shake-Up 
Add as a preferred source on Google
SK Chemicals revealed on Monday, May 17, that it recently purchased a 10% stake in the Chinese plastic recycling firm, Shuye. The acquisition was done as it aims to commercialize eco-friendly PETG plastic or the glycol-modified polyethylene terephthalate.
The effort to make eco-friendly products
As per The Korea Herald, this type of plastic is environmentally friendly because it does not have the environmental hormone bisphenol A, a chemical that is typically used in the production of plastics.
It was added that while the PETG does not have the said harmful chemical, it offers the same glass-like transparency in regular plastic and offers greater durability too. SK Chemicals is one of the leading makers of PETGs and it is supplying its products to well-known cosmetic labels worldwide including L‘Oréal, Johnson & Johnson and Estée Lauder.
The price for the 10% stake acquisition was said to be ₩23 billion or around $20.2 million. The deal will give SK Chemicals exclusive rights on Shuye’s PETG raw materials and products available in the Korean market. In addition, the Chinese plastic recycling firm will also provide 20,000 metric tons of recycled PETG raw materials to SK Chemicals.
“In the third quarter, SK Chemicals will roll out recycled PETG product Ecotria and expand the ratio of recycled products to 50% by 2025,” an official of SK Chemical said.
SK Chemicals aims for stable eco-friendly plastic production
SK Chemicals has a PETG production plant in Ulsan and this is where Shuye will be delivering the raw materials. The company is looking forward to the production of its Earth-safe plastics and help address the growing plastic waste and disposal problems.
"By securing stable raw materials, we have established a production base for PETG and secured new business opportunities for chemical recycling PET at the same time," Aju Business Daily quoted SK Chemicals’ business head, Kim Eung Su, as saying in another report. "We will do our best to succeed in the world's first commercial production of chemical cycling copolyesters."
Meanwhile, South Korean firms are trying to develop a technology that will recycle plastic waste as the country is also one of the regions with the biggest plastic usage. It is hoped that a recycling system will soon be available to help make the environment clean and green.
