Free Content: South Korea’s carbon neutral strategy – Extraction of bio-fuel from plastic waste

Plastic recycling has become increasingly viable and might become an important source of fuel for South Korea in the future. Increasing plastic consumption, together with rising oil prices has caused the manufacturing of new plastic to become much more expensive than before.

Before this, China was the world’s largest importer of recyclable materials until it stopped importing plastic waste in 2018. This led to a sharp decrease in the price of plastic waste which later deeply disrupted the collection and recycling operations of 48 recycling companies in South Korea.

The South Korean government had to quickly step in to address the crisis, extending much-needed financial assistance to these companies so that they could continue with their business operations.

Apart from this, the South Korean government also committed to reduce plastic waste by half while increasing recycling rates to 70 percent, from 34 percent.

The matter became more challenging due to recent restricted borders and disruptions in the global supply chain and trade in recyclables.

Stepping up to further untangle the situation, the South Korean government has permitted the building of plastic waste pyrolysis recycling facilities and incineration facilities in industrial parks, in order to boost on-site plastic recycling.

At the present, the top policy makers are focusing on industrial parks with yearly waste output of more than 20,000 tonnes and an area of more than 500,000m2.

The South Korean government wanted to push for greater usage of pyrolysis techniques in recycling plastic and hopes to transform 3.6% of the country’s plastic waste into bio-oil by 2025, and 10% of the country’s plastic waste into bio-oil by 2030.

At the moment, roughly about 0.1% of plastic waste is currently processed using pyrolysis techniques.

The central administration hoped that by 2050, extraction of fuel and raw material from plastic waste through chemical recycling process, such as pyrolysis techniques, would become one of the country’s key pillars to becoming a carbon neutral nation.  

Currently, bio-oil generated in South Korea’s pyrolysis facilities is mostly used for fuel. The Korean government is encouraging more Korea-based organisations to switch to bio-oil for their projects as well.