Page 45 from: September 2014

45September 2014

P L A S T I C S

rials. KRS is a refuse plastic fuel (RPF) specialist,

converting plastic waste into compact nuggets

that are burned as fuel for energy. But according

to KRS president Lee Sang-Kuk, items such as

aluminium cans, chopsticks and spoons are

commonly found among the RPF waste stream.

KRS is one of the larger RPF operators in South

Korea. It was established by the Korean Plastic

Recycling Association and has acquired sorting

technology, which it uses to recycle around

7000 tonnes of household RPF waste each year.

But rather than concentrating RPF materials

among a handful of companies so that these

can be dealt with effectively, Lee points out that

there are another 150 RPF recycling companies

scattered around the country, nearly all work-

ing on a very small scale.

Solutions already exist
Examples such as these have given rise to

a widespread call for technology

solutions that can improve the

efficiency of South Korea’s

plastic recycling system;

however, the reality is

that these solutions

already exist. In 2005,

Korean company

Ionia E&T became

the first company in Asia to develop an auto-

matic sorting technology for the treatment of

municipal recyclable waste. This was on the back

of government funding as part of its 21st Cen-

tury Frontier Research & Development Project.

Ionia E&T’s Environment Business Depart-

ment manager Lee Ho-Ik claims that, with a

capacity of 3 tonnes per hour, this technology

is 10 times more efficient than sorting by hand

and has a sorting success rate of over 90%. Ionia

E&T’s automatic sorting system is now being

utilised by some 30 recycling centres around

the country.

International companies such as Norway’s TiTech

and France’s Pellenc ST are also spreading their

automated sorting technology across South

Korea, with the former’s machinery now used by

around 100 of the country’s recycling companies.

Despite the availability of this technology, how-

ever, it is yet to be utilised on a large scale.

Only a handful
So if South Korea’s Ionia E&T and interna-

tional companies like TiTech and Pellenc ST

have the technology to offer, then why is it not

being used more widely? According to Lee

Ho-Ik, the reason lies in the size of the South

Korean market; there are not enough large

companies that can afford it. All of the opera-

tions that currently use Ionia E&T’s machinery

are government-owned recycling centres, set

up in big cities and recycling large quantities.

Lee claims that there are only 50 or 60 large recy-

cling companies in the whole country, most of

which are government owned. In other words,

the majority of recycling companies are pri-

vately owned and small in size. The reality is that

with just one of Ionia E&T’s machines setting

you back US$ 240 000 (and a complete system

installation close to US$ 500 000), automated

recycling technology remains inaccessible to all

but a handful of the largest private companies.

And Lee doesn’t see the Korean market for its

technology solutions growing any bigger in the

near future. Facing up to the realisation that it

can sell machines perhaps to only two or three

local companies each year, Ionia E&T is now

looking for new markets overseas and plans to

start exporting in earnest next year.

Eliminating the what-ifs
In South Korea, a great deal of investment has

gone into recycling, the overall plastic recycling

rate is comparatively high and some great suc-

cess stories have been written. But speaking

more generally, the recycling system is not set

up with improvement in mind, and is thus not

as environmentally friendly and effective as it

could be. Assuming that the array of material

coming forward for recycling is not going to be

simplified any time soon, it would seem that

part of the answer lies in sorting technology.

But while this technology exists, the current

structure and, in particular, the small scale of

most sorting and recycling operations mean

change is not taking place. Given the current

international focus on South Korea and the

statements about the country’s technological

expertise and waste management successes, now

would seem to be a good time to implement

recycling solutions such that ‘what-if ’ scenarios

can be exchanged for a firm reality.

Thomas Vink is a representative of Latitude Lim-
ited, an enterprise that works with innovative
companies that offer sustainable solutions or
products for businesses and consumers in the
Korean market. Latitude is particularly focused
on delivering sustainable food packaging solu-
tions which refl ects it extensive experience and
networks in this area. The company also works
with partners to fi nd solutions for business and
home environments.
Thomas Vink can be contacted via:
[email protected]
www.atlatitude.com

‘The mountain of
waste on Nanji

Island was 34 times
larger than the Great

Pyramid of Giza.’

With a population of over 50 million people, South Korea consumes
around 5 million tonnes of plastics per year.

RI-7 Plastics South Korea.indd 45 28-08-14 14:38