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Bangkok – 25 February 2026: Marking the first-ever collaboration of three industry leaders, Taokaenoi Food & Marketing Public Company Limited, or TKN, a manufacturer of seaweed snacks distributed domestically and internationally, SCG Chemicals, or SCGC, a leading integrated polymer and solutions provider for sustainability, and Dow Thailand Group, or Dow, a global leader in materials science, have jointly announced the signing of a landmark Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to revolutionize the snack industry through the “Food-Grade Circular Packaging by Advanced Recycling Technology” project. This initiative aims to sustainably address plastic waste challenges under the concept of closed-loop recycling. This collaboration entails utilizing multi-layer packaging waste from the production processes of Taokaenoi, which was previously difficult to recycle. This waste will be processed using the advanced recycling technology of SCGC and converted back into circular feedstock. Following this, Dow will utilize the feedstock to produce new, clean, and food-grade plastic resins. These resins will then be safely used to manufacture food packaging for the Taokaenoi brand once again. It is anticipated that the packaging will be ready for commercial distribution by the end of 2026. Ms. Orrapat Peeradechapan, Chief Executive Officer of Taokaenoi Food & Marketing Public Company Limited, said, “Taokaenoi is committed to creating happiness for consumers through high-quality snacks, alongside prioritizing ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) principles by emphasizing sustainable economic, social, and environmental development. This collaboration represents a significant milestone that transforms the ‘challenge’ of hard-to-recycle packaging into an ‘opportunity’ to establish a practical circular economy. It is not merely about waste disposal, but rather about creating new value from used plastic. We do not only deliver great-tasting products, but we also aim to deliver a better world to consumers through eco-friendly packaging innovations that are clean, safe, and tangibly reduce environmental impacts. This will drive our business to grow alongside genuine sustainability.” Dr. Suracha Udomsak, Chief Operations and Innovation Officer of SCGC, said, “This collaboration reflects the capability of SCGC in utilizing advanced recycling technology to manage plastic packaging composed of multiple materials, which is difficult to recycle, and converting it back into circular feedstock. This feedstock can be used to produce new plastic resins (Certified Circular Polyolefin Resin), which possess properties and quality entirely equivalent to standard virgin plastic resins in all respects and are safe for direct food contact. As a result, the materials can be reused to manufacture food packaging for Taokaenoi. In addition, our process has achieved the globally recognized sustainability certification, ISCC PLUS (International Sustainability and Carbon Certification), throughout the entire supply chain, making SCGC the first company in ASEAN to achieve such certification. This partnership is considered a crucial step in driving SCGC’s goal of reintegrating used plastic into the circular economy system at a volume of 500,000 tons per year by 2030, through collaborations with business partners across the entire value chain.” Meanwhile, Mr. Vichan Tangkengsirisin, President of Dow Thailand, added, “As a materials science leader, Dow is proud to support this collaboration in Thailand by applying our technology to produce circular plastic resins from used flexible packaging feedstock with performance equivalent to fossil-based plastics. Dow Thailand Group’s polyethylene facility in Rayong is ISCC PLUS certified for its capability of converting advanced recycled feedstock into high quality, food grade circular resins. This initiative represents an important step toward closing the plastics loop in Thailand and advancing Dow’s sustainability ambition to transform the waste through collaboration with customers and value chain partners.” This collaboration serves as a model for the comprehensive management of used multi-layer plastic packaging. It reduces the accumulation of plastic waste in the country and decreases the consumption of new resources. This aligns with the sustainability goals of Taokaenoi, SCGC, and Dow, reinforcing the role of the business sector in tangibly driving the circular economy to build a sustainable future together.

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SK chemicals and Kooksoondang to Develop Industry's First CR PET Container for Traditional Liquor

12 August 2024 – SK Chemicals and Kooksoondang have signed an MOU to develop liquor containers based on circular recycled materials.

SK chemicals and Kooksoondang announced on the 25^th that they had signed a business agreement at Kooksoondang’s Seoul office in Samseong-dong. This partnership marks a first in the traditional liquor industry to develop traditional liquor containers using Circular Recycled PET (CR-PET).

Under this agreement, both companies will collaborateedsx to advance the development of traditional liquor packaging using circular recycled materials. They aim to ensure smooth progress toward commercialization. This initiative marks the first use of materials derived from chemical recycling technology in producing traditional liquor containers.

To this end, SK Chemicals will supply the necessary SKYPET® CR material for producing these containers. They will also provide technical support based on their expertise in polyester materials. Kooksoondang will develop and implement recycled packaging optimized for traditional liquor containers using these materials and technical support. Furthermore, both companies agreed to collaborate not only on developing containers using recycled materials but also on their practical application, commercialization, and initiatives to promote greater consumption.

In response to global trends toward increased use of recycled raw materials, Kooksoondang has partnered with SK Chemicals to explore alternatives to petroleum-based PET materials used in containers for its traditional liquors. According to Greenpeace’s Plastic Korea 2.0 Report, 5.6 billion PET bottles were discarded in Korea in 2020, amounting to 84,456 tons.

Producing traditional liquors using fermentation techniques demands rigorous quality control to preserve their unique taste, aroma, and color until they reach consumers. To maintain these high standards, it is crucial to achieve material properties that match those of conventional petrochemical materials. SK Chemicals’ circular recycled PET brand, SKYPET CR, is based on depolymerization technology. This technology breaks down plastic waste to the molecular level and converts it back into raw materials. Although it uses plastic waste as a raw material, it exhibits the same quality and physical properties as petroleum-based PET materials. It also has the advantage of being able to reuse recycled plastic that has been used, unlike physically recycled materials, which are often incinerated or landfilled after a single use.

Kooksoondang expects this agreement to bring about groundbreaking technological progress in applying recycled packaging materials to Korea’s traditional liquor packaging industry.

Kooksoondang is consistently introducing products that incorporate new packaging technologies. In 1993, it launched the industry’s first canned makgeolli; in 2009, it introduced Kooksoondang Fresh Makgeolli, the industry’s first fresh Makgeolli with a completely sealed cap. In addition, the company changed the containers of major Makgeolli products to transparent PET bottles and applied tear lines to labels to make separation and disposal easier, with consideration for the environment.

Ahn Jae-hyun, CEO of SK chemicals, said, “Drinking items such as liquor, bottled water, and beverages are among the areas that use the most plastic in everyday life. We will expand collaboration with leading companies in industries that use a lot of plastic waste to establish a virtuous cycle system for discarded plastic waste and contribute to reducing overall plastic usage.”

Meanwhile, Kooksoondang is steadily carrying out ESG activities for a sustainable future while also pursuing the development of circular recycled packaging materials. The company has been selected as a Green Company by the Ministry of Environment five consecutive times. They have also completed the smart eco-factory construction project at Hoengseong Brewery and are currently conducting various activities. These include forest cultivation in Cheongnaetaesan, companion beach activities in Gyeongpo, Gangneung, and Jucheon River purification activities.

A Kooksoondang official said, “SK chemicals is a company that has both polyester technology and chemical recycling technology. They produced PET resin for the first time in Korea in 1978 and recently commercialized chemical recycling technology for the first time in the world. We will create a sustainable liquor container trend by leveraging SK’s material technology and expertise, combined with our own container manufacturing know-how.”

Source: SK chemicals