• Launched
  ‘SK TBMGEOSTONE,’ a j/v with TBM, Japan and developed eco-friendly
  ‘Biodegradable LIMEX’ technology with outstanding economic feasibility

• New
  material reduces plastic usage and curbs environmental pollution; SKC to
  mass-produce it starting 2023 to accelerate its ESG management

SKC (CEO Lee
Wan-jae) has started the development/commercialization of Biodegradable LIMEX
material technology that can dramatically reduce the quantity of non-perishable
plastics. Biodegradable LIMEX, which is an eco-friendly new material that mixes
stone powder (limestone) with biodegradable resins PBAT and PLA, can replace a
variety of general purpose plastics.

On September 16,
SKC launched SK TBMGEOSTONE, a joint venture with TBM (CEO Yamasaki Nobuyoshi),
a Japanese eco-friendly materials company. The joint venture will conduct
R&D and make facility investment required to commercialize eco-friendly Biodegradable
LIMEX with a goal of starting mass-production in 2023.

Biodegradable
LIMEX to be developed by the joint venture is a new material to be _ create_d through
the combination of TBM's existing LIMEX technology with SKC's biodegradable
materials technology.

LIMEX made by
mixing more than 50% of limestone with general plastic resins such as PE and PP
is eco-friendly as it uses less plastic. Biodegradable LIMEX, which goes a step
further by using biodegradable materials such as PBAT and PLA that decompose in
nature in a brief period of time instead of general plastic resin products,
will become a vast improvement in eco-friendliness.

Biodegradable
LIMEX is particularly noteworthy in that it can play a leading role in vitalizing
the biodegradable materials market. Despite the recent increasing demand for
biodegradable materials, their market expansion has been limited by the prices
hovering 2-3 times higher than those of general plastic materials. As it uses
up to 80% of limestone, which is abundant in nature, Biodegradable LIMEX has
unrivaled price competitiveness.

SKC, which
commercialized the world's first biodegradable PLA film packaging material in
2009, has been expanding its biodegradable materials business by supplying PLA
film to Starbucks Korea and others. Most notably, SKC has continued its
diversification efforts, including its success in securing high-strength PBAT
technology, which is another biodegradable material, from the Korea Research
Institute of Chemical Technology in 2020. Through the joint venture, SKC will
be able to upgrade its biodegradable materials to the next level as it can
deploy TBM's unique limestone utilization technology.

TBM, a unicorn
company established in 2011, has succeeded in Japan in commercializing LIMEX
which boasts highly dependable processability and durability despite its
inclusion of limestone in excess of 50%. The company’s technology involved in
the new material is superior to that of the rival company using limestone
content of 30% or less.
In July 2021, SK Japan Investment made an equity
investment of about 140 billion won in the company. With Biodegradable LIMEX,
the joint venture is planning to enter the processed food container and
disposable market and then expand its market presence into interior materials
for construction and automotive industries.