SK Chemicals has entered the European automotive market by signing a contract to supply recycled materials to an automobile carpet manufacturer in Austria.
On the 25th, SK Chemicals announced that it has signed an exclusive partnership agreement with Durmont, an Austrian automobile carpet manufacturer, and Paarang, a chemical import and export company, at its headquarters Eco Lab in Pangyo, Seongnam, Gyeonggi Province.
Durmont is a company that supplies carpets for approximately 7 million vehicles annually. In 2023, it was acquired by Visscher-Caravelle Group, a primary parts manufacturer with a 40% market share in the European automotive industry, and now has major global automotive brands as its clients.
Paarang will support SK Chemicals and Durmont to ensure smooth communication and operations. It aims to enhance reliability and efficiency based on its expertise in logistics and supply chain management throughout the transaction process.
Under this agreement, SK Chemicals will supply recycled PET SKYPET CR to Durmont. The core of this agreement is to gradually replace materials such as nylon, previously used for manufacturing vehicle mats, with SKYPET CR to enhance the sustainability of automobiles.
SKYPET CR is recycled PET that utilizes SK Chemicals' chemical recycling technology to recycle waste plastics at the molecular level and can be recycled even after use. Notably, thanks to the chemical recycling technology, it can maintain high quality close to that of new products based on petroleum raw materials, even when recycled multiple times, unlike conventional recycling.
An Jae-hyun, president of SK Chemicals, said, "With carbon neutrality regulations related to automobiles being introduced in Europe, interest in the circulation and recycling of automobiles is increasing. We will continue to collaborate with the industry to enhance the sustainability of automobiles while achieving the necessary physical properties and performance of automotive products using SK Chemicals' depolymerization technology."