[From the Scene] Tech meets trash: Transforming plastic recycling for sustainable future

BUSAN -- At Saenggok Industrial Complex in Gangseo-gu, Busan, a plastics recycling factory bustles with activity.

Though Busan, South Korea's second largest port city, is already home to several companies and research institutions specializing in recycling, Yuil Industries is a pioneer.

The factory here introduced the first optical automatic sorting machine for plastics recycling, which sorts plastics based on their type, color and composition much more quickly than previous methods.

The factory operates the largest optical automatic sorting facility in the country and processes approximately 20,000 metric tons of plastic a year, according to a factory official.

Inside the factory, giant stacks of compressed plastic waste sit waiting for processing.

According to Park Kwan-yeol, executive director of Yuil Industries, the types of plastic waste the factory collects include “food containers like egg cartons and takeout boxes, as well as plastic water and beverage bottles.”

“After the plastic waste is collected and compressed, it is separated by color and washed and boiled in hot water to remove any impurities before being shredded,” Park added. “Once that is done, the plastic waste becomes shredded into flakes and is dumped into a water tank, where heavier plastics sink to the bottom while lighter materials float on the water’s surface for separation.”

Park also mentioned that once the flakes are separated by weight, they undergo an optical sorting process that uses lasers to sort the flakes by material and color.

“Once this entire process is complete, the purified flakes become high-quality raw materials appropriate to be utilized to make products such as packaging containers, padded jackets and interior components for automobiles,” Park told The Korea Herald.

Yuil Industries is just one of the plastic waste management facilities the South Korean government plans to build in Gangseo-gu.

By 2028, a “Post-plastic Resource Circulation Cluster” will be established in the district, spanning approximately 26,400 square meters. According to the Ministry of Environment, a national budget of at least 50 billion won ($36 million) is expected to be put into the project.

“The cluster will consist of factories that collect and recycle plastic waste, as well as innovative centers working to develop advanced robotic technology used during the waste recycling process and logistics centers that export raw materials and recyclable products overseas,” Environment Ministry official Park Jun explained. “Research centers that conduct further studies on material recycling, depolymerization of new petrochemical materials, biodegradable plastics and bioplastics will also be situated in the cluster.”

The official said the Environment Ministry was pursuing the new project because of the “continuous increase of plastic waste and the growing demand for such waste to be recycled and reused in Korea.”

According to the 2022 report on national waste generation and disposal trends that the ministry released last year, the annual amount of plastic waste from households increased from 2.34 million metric tons in 2018 to 3.3 million metric tons in 2022.

“With the increasing volume of plastic waste, the economic, social and environmental costs associated with their risks are underscoring the need for advanced recycling technologies,” further explained Park. “By establishing the cluster, we aim to achieve greater efficiency within the recycling industry that addresses concerns regarding waste plastics.”