Dow Thailand and SCG Chemicals have signed a memorandum of understanding to transform 200,000 tonnes/year of plastic waste into circular products by 2030 in the Asia Pacific region.
The partnership will start by developing waste sorting, mechanical recycling, and chemical recycling technologies in Thailand, where both companies are based. The goal is to boost both mechanical and chemical recycling to convert a broader range of plastic waste into high-value applications, the companies said in a joint statement.
Subsequent stages may include sourcing plastic waste feedstocks from Southeast Asian countries, as well as potential expansion into China, Korea, Japan, Taiwan, Australia, and New Zealand.
"Asia has one of the largest sources of convertible plastic waste,” said Bambang Candra, APAC commercial vice president, packaging & specialty plastics, at Dow. “We want to disrupt how the region currently handles waste and structure a new model that values, sources, and transforms plastic waste. Our partnership with SCGC will enable both companies to be key players in enabling greater circularity in the region by leveraging our complementary portfolio, research and development capabilities, and technology licencing. Combined with our existing technical expertise in producing high-performance resins, our customers will also find value in the optimisation of total cost in use, availability and quality of plastic waste across the materials ecosystem,” he added.
Dow currently operates seven facilities in Thailand, where it mostly produces polyol, propyelene glycol, and propylene oxide. In 2023, the materials company announced it would build Thailand’s first material recovery facility in partnership with the Institute of Scientific and Technological Research (TISTR) and the Thai Plastics Institute.
SCGC has developed projects in Map Ta Phut municipality to educate communities about proper waste management. By 2021, the project covered 64 communities, two fisherman groups, nine temples, one hotel, and 11 schools. In the same year, it built Thailand’s first chemical recycling demonstration plant in Rayong, with capacity to produce approximately 4,000 tonnes of pyrolysis oil per year.