SK Lubricants to expand its use of recycled plastic
South Korean lube manufacturer SK Lubricants said it will expand the use of “eco-friendly” recycled plastic containers for its lubricant products. A subsidiary of SK Innovation, SK Lubricants said that the company will start using recycled containers for its flagship products, which account for 30% of its total lubricant volume sales.
After launching the ZIC ZERO line in recycled containers for a year, SK Lubricants said that customer acceptance for eco-friendly packaging showed encouraging results. Thus, the company’s decision to expand the use of recycled plastic bottles to more product lines.
Last year, SK Lubricants recycled 21 tons of waste plastic to make containers of ZIC ZERO. With the decision to expand the use of recycled plastic bottles for more product lines, the company expects to recycle about 100 tons of waste plastic every year. This is equivalent to five million 500-millilitre water bottles, which weigh approximately 20 grams each.
The decision is in line with the “Green Transformation” strategy of parent SK Innovation. Also, it is part of the measures to achieve the company’s goal to be “net zero”.
SK Lubricants’ eco-friendly containers are recycled from waste plastic, developed in collaboration with SK Global Chemical, another subsidiary of SK Innovation. The bottle closure and the product label are both made of a single material, PE-based recycled plastic, which makes it easy to recycle. The company has been granted sustainable product certification by Underwriters Laboratories (UL), a global certification body.
SK Lubricants has begun the production of ZIC X7 and SK ZIC X7000 products packaged in these eco-friendly containers. These products will be launched next month. Packaged goods are predominantly used in car workshops and oil change centers in South Korea, unlike in the United States, which tend to use bulk products.
The company plans to further expand its use of recycled plastic bottles for its packaged lubricants. Further, SK Lubricants said it plans to take a leadership role by sharing its technology and know-how in producing eco-friendly containers with the industry, to contribute to expanding the waste plastic circular ecosystem.
“The company’s effort to use more eco-friendly recycled containers will make SK Lubricants a major eco-friendly company that leads the ESG era of the lubricant industry,” said Lee Jung-woo, chief of Lubricants Business Supply of SK Lubricants.
