Jeju Special Self-Governing Province signed an agreement with the Ministry of Environment, Jeju Province Development Corporation, Hyosung TNC, and Pleatsmama that regenerates discarded transparent plastic bottles into high-quality recycled products in order to promote the recycling of local resources.

This is a one-stop agreement between all the agents of the process, from the discharge of plastic bottles to the final consumer, in connection with the pilot transparent plastic bottle recycling project that has been in effect since March. It will upcycle the discharged and collected bottles at recycling centers in Jeju to produce bags and clothes.

According to the agreement, Jeju Special Self-Governing Province will categorize and collect transparent plastic bottles at recycling centers and multi-unit dwellings in Jeju, and JPDC will manufacture eco-friendly products such as Samdasoo bottles and recover PET bottles by supporting collection costs.

The plastic bottles that have been separately discharged and collected in Jeju will be produced into recycled fibers by Hyosung TNC through an extraprovincial plastic reprocessing company, and finally, Pleastmama will develop, manufacture, and sell promotional products such as bags and clothing for Jeju.

This project is the first in Korea to mass-produce merchandise, such as bags and clothes, using recycled long-fiber raw materials from domestic PET bottles through cooperation between public and private corporations. The project plans to release products targeting June 5th, World Environment Day, and promote the value and importance of recycling resources.

An official from the provincial office said, “Domestic PET bottles are not used as raw materials for producing high-quality recycled products, such as long fibers for clothing, due to the mixed nature of waste discharge and collection, which leads to 5,000 tons of waste plastic being imported annually.” They continued, “Through this project, which collects waste using the advanced discharge systems at weekday-based recycling centers, transparent plastic bottles will be reborn as high-quality and high-value-added products.”