SK chemicals Partners with The Estée Lauder Companies on Sustainable Packaging

SEONGNAM, South Korea  -- SK chemicals is strengthening its sustainability approach in the cosmetics container market through a partnership with global cosmetics brand The Estée Lauder Companies.

On the 17th, SK chemicals announced the signing of a letter of intent (LOI) with The Estée Lauder Companies regarding the supply of circular recycling solutions.

The Estée Lauder Companies is one of the world's leading manufacturers, marketers and sellers of quality skin care, makeup, fragrance, and hair care products, and is a steward of luxury and prestige brands globally. The Company's products are sold in approximately 150 countries and territories under more than 20 brand names including Bobbi Brown Cosmetics, Aveda, Clinique, and La Mer.

Under this agreement, SK chemicals will supply ECOTRIA CR and SKYPET CR, which incorporate advanced recycled materials, and ECOZEN CLARO, which can be incorporated into a recycle stream. The Estée Lauder Companies will develop packaging utilizing the materials supplied by SK chemicals.

Advanced recycling is a technology that chemically decomposes waste plastic into monomers, the raw materials for plastic. It is considered important technology for the advancement of packaging-to-packaging recycling, helping solve plastic waste issues in a circular and innovative way.

SK chemicals and The Estée Lauder Companies will gradually increase the amount of recycled  materials in their products and replace other non-recyclable materials, with designs that incorporate recyclable or recycled materials, helping to move ELC's packaging sustainability goals forward. 

The agreement enables the potential acceleration of the packaging sustainability movement in the global cosmetics container market, as SK chemicals' unique recycling solution will be applied to The Estée Lauder Companies and its portfolio of brands.

SK chemicals has consistently pursued the supply of recycled materials to the cosmetics container market beyond The Estée Lauder Companies.

In March, the company signed a business agreement with Yonwoo, a subsidiary of Kolmar Korea, which holds the highest market share in the domestic cosmetics container market, to develop and commercialize containers using recycled materials. In June, the company signed another business agreement with COSMAX, a global leader in cosmetics original development manufacturing (ODM), to "build the cooperation model for cosmetics container proposal" with sustainable plastic materials applied.

Especially in March, SK chemicals established a subsidiary SK Shantou and signed an asset acquisition agreement related to the circular recycling raw material and circular recycled PET business of Shuye, a Chinese company specializing in green material, thereby establishing a global base for recycled plastic business and stable production system.

Ahn Jae-hyun, the CEO of SK chemicals, said, "Through this agreement, we believe positive synergies can be created in both business and environmental aspects as SK chemicals, leading the circular recycling plastic technology, partners with The Estée Lauder Companies, leading the global cosmetics market." He added, "We will continue to work harder to create a sustainable cosmetics container ecosystem."

About SK Chemicals

SK Chemicals is one of the world's leading manufacturers of chemical and life science products. The South Korean company's Green Chemicals business focuses particularly on the development and production of biocopolyesters, copolyesters and polyethylene terephthalates (PET), as well as engineering plastics. The Life Science business unit focuses on the production and marketing of medicines. Through continuous innovations that meet the world's highest technological standards, SK Chemicals is known as a market-leading supplier of environmentally friendly materials and holistic medical products.