Lotte Fine Chemical has announced that it has fully applied 25% recycled content from ‘chemically recycled PET’ for its 10-liter EUROX (urea solution) product, making it the first in the urea solution industry to do so. This PET is a r-PET product from Lotte Chemical’s eco-friendly material brand, ‘ECOSEED’.
Chemically recycled PET refers to clean PET bottles produced using chemical recycling technology applied to collected waste PET bottles. Chemical recycling technology involves breaking down the polymer structure of plastics through chemical means, as opposed to mechanical recycling, which involves physical processing to produce plastic again. This method converts the plastic into raw materials or chemicals and then reproduces it as plastic.
This technology is globally recognized as it maintains the quality of plastic even through repeated recycling processes and has broad recyclability regarding color and contaminants. With the introduction of EUROX’s chemically recycled ‘ECOSEED r-PET’, an annual reduction of approximately 210 tons of plastic use is expected.
EUROX previously changed its 10-liter PET bottle from a colored one to a transparent one in 2019, making it easier to recycle. This bold move involved changing the brand’s long-standing PET bottle color, marking the first instance of transparent urea solution PET bottles being used in the domestic urea solution industry.
An official from Lotte Fine Chemical stated, “We will actively participate in the government’s policy to expand recycled materials and strive to fulfill our responsibilities as a leading brand in the urea solution industry.”
Meanwhile, EUROX holds the permanent trademark for the ‘AdBlue’ international quality standard established by the German Automotive Industry Association, continuing to build customer trust after being the number one seller in Korea for 15 consecutive years (according to the Ministry of Environment’s statistics), and ranking first in the urea solution category for five consecutive years in the Korea Brand Power Index (K-BPI). Furthermore, it continues to supply original urea solution to numerous automotive manufacturers, including global brands like Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Volvo, Scania, MAN, Stellantis, and domestic manufacturers like Hyundai-Kia and Tata Daewoo, earning recognition for quality and value.
Urea solutions are used as a catalyst in the SCR (Selective Catalytic Reduction) system of diesel vehicles to help improve air quality by removing nitrogen oxides (NOx), which are among the causes of fine particulate matter in exhaust gases.
Lee Sang-jin daedusj@autodiary.kr