According to the terms of the agreement, SKGC will have 51% of the venture, which will be headquartered in Singapore, and Loop will have the remaining 49% ownership
Both firms will begin work on the first commercial manufacturing facility with Infinite Loop technology this year. (Credit: SK innovation Co., Ltd)
SK Geo Centric (SKGC) and Loop Industries have inked a definitive Joint Venture Agreement (JVA) to commercialise Loop’s technology in the Asian market via multiple commercial manufacturing plants.
According to the terms of the JVA, South Korea-based SKGC will own a 51% stake in the venture, which will be headquartered in Singapore, and Loop will have the remaining 49% ownership.
Under the deal, the new entity will have exclusive rights to market Loop’s technology in the markets of Asia for a prescribed period.
Loop, a clean technology company, will also licence its technology in exchange for an annual royalty for each of the commercial plants.
SKGC CEO Na Kyung-soo said: “We will strive for the successful completion of the advanced recycling complex in Ulsan, which will function as a significant stepping stone for a future expansion throughout Asia.
“Through this JV agreement, we expect the two partners to make a great leap towards the realisation of a circular plastics economy and achieve our vision ‘Green for Better Life’.”
Work on the first commercial manufacturing facility with Infinite Loop technology is expected to begin in 2023 and be finished by the end of 2025.
It will be based in Ulsan, South Korea, and have an annual capacity to supply 70,000 metric tonnes of Loop PET resin for packaging and polyester fibre applications, SKGC said.
The two partners have laid out plans that call for the construction of at least three other commercial production facilities around Asia by 2030, in addition to Infinite Loop Ulsan.
For the engineering and building of the commercial manufacturing facilities, Loop and SKGC have teamed up with SK ecoengineering, a division of the SK Group that has experience working as an EPC (engineering, procurement, and construction) contractor.
According to SKGC, Loop’s technology can transform the Asian PET plastic and polyester fibre market by converting low-value PET plastic and polyester fibre waste into 100% recycled virgin-quality Loop PET resin.
Loop founder and CEO Daniel Solomita said: “By expanding Loop’s manufacturing footprint into Asia, our global CPG (consumer packaged goods) brand customers who use polyester fibre for textiles will have the opportunity to incorporate Loop branded material into their products and create circularity for their textile waste by recycling it at our manufacturing facilities.”