LOTTE Chemical Project LOOP,

Second Social Venture Launched to Expand Resource Circulation Activities

■ LOTTE Chemical Project LOOP continuously engaged in activities since ‘20 to expand the scope of recycled materials and activities
■ Completed selection of second social venture and held launching ceremony... Plans to provide various support such as business realization funds, expert mentoring, business cooperation, linking with sales channels, etc. for selected companies
■ Vice Chairman Kim Gyo-hyun, “Through pilot projects and the first social venture, we are expanding recycled materials from PET to all other types of plastics such as ABS, PE, and PP”... “LOTTE Chemical will do its best as a ‘platform’ for creating a loop for the recycling business”

LOTTE Chemical ‘Project LOOP’ launched the second social venture based on the successful activities of the first social venture to expand resource circulation activities.

On the afternoon of the 19th at the Seoul Jamsil LOTTE World Tower, a kick-off ceremony was held for the launching of the Project LOOP second social venture. The ceremony was attended by LOTTE Chemical CEO and Vice Chairman Kim Gyo-hyun, ‘IMPACT SQUARE’, second social venture partner companies ‘gatda’, ‘e-plant’, and ‘Aug3rd’ and agreed to build cooperative relationships for improving awareness on resource circulation and leading the domestic circulating economic system.

LOTTE Chemical invited companies to join the second social venture in the two areas of collection and sorting & resourcing from November of last year, and ‘gatda’ and ‘Aug3rd’ was selected for the collection sector, while ‘e-plant’ was selected for the sorting and resourcing sector.

‘gatda’ will develop a waste plastic treatment process through the recycling collection platform ‘Bbaegi’, ‘e-plant’ will produce eco-friendly artificial reefs using marine wastes through its proprietary technologies for upcycling waste plastics without pre-treating processes, and ‘Aug3rd’ will collect and recycle wastes from plastic military articles that it produces such as ammunition loaders, ammunition removers, and empty shell trays.

LOTTE Chemical plans to provide support such as business realization funds, expert mentoring, business cooperation, and linking with sale channels to companies selected for the Project LOOP second social venture. Past pilot projects and companies from the first social venture will also cooperation in future businesses.

LOTTE Chemical Vice Chairman Kim Gyo-hyun commented, “Through pilot projects and the first social venture, we are expanding recycled materials from PET to all other types of plastics such as ABS, PE, and PP,” and added, “Through the development of outstanding technologies and business models in the collection and sorting & resourcing sector, the three newly selected companies are expected to expand the recycling business, and LOTTE Chemical will do its best as a ‘platform’ for creating a loop for the recycling business.”

LOTTE Chemical pursued Project LOOP since January of 2020 to construct a plastic circulating economy system through improved waste plastic collection cultures and recycling, and began the pilot project through an eight-party MOU including LOTTE Chemical.

In result, Project LOOP launched eco-friendly bags, shoes, jackets, and laptop pouches made by collecting and recycling waste plastics in December 2000, and in June 2021, products were released together with LOTTE Holdings and LOTTE Museum as well. Last year, various activities such as launching LOTTE Giants uniforms and uniforms for Lotteria, Krispy Kreme, and Angelinus Coffee minimized impact on the environment, while realizing economic value through mutual growth with participating companies.

Furthermore, through the first social venture activities launched last year, LOWLIT COLLECTIVE installed benches made by recycling waste plastics produced using a 3D printer, and Woorim ICT is developing sorting technologies by material such as pulverized ABS, PP, and PE, and Kokkiri Gongjang collected and recycled discarded toys and is using it to manufacture lighting heat sinks. Foresys is collecting waste fishing nets and waste PP ropes to turn into resources for commercial products, and Plus Life produced clothes using waste plastic fabrics, and is now producing seasonal fabrics.

Meanwhile, PROJECT LOOP is expanding and developing the project with LOOP Social for discovering social ventures in the resource circulation sector, LOOP Cluster that pursues recycled resource sourcing with local governments and public/private facilities, LOOP LOTTE that aims at spreading the recycling culture and expanding use of recycled materials within the LOTTE Group, and LOOP Alliance for expanding a recycling ecosystem among various industries.