Plastics manufacturing and imports
LG Chem is the top chemical company in South Korea with around 18 trillion South Korean won in sales. As a whole, the country’s plastics industry has grown over time in scale and value, with the number of plastics manufacturing companies having increased steadily over the past several years. There is a high domestic demand for plastic materials, particularly polypropylene, which is met with both local production and imports, mainly from China. Much of the plastics imports came from China and Japan, with Chinese imports of plastics reaching approximately five billion U.S. dollars in 2022.Household plastic emissions
There are concerns about the environmental impact of the production and consumption of plastic products. Food packaging made up almost 75 percent of household plastic waste in South Korea, with Lotte Chilsung represented the most among food manufacturers from recorded household plastic emissions in 2022. In February 2022, the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership Agreement (RCEP) became the first trade agreement to fully include China, South Korea, and Japan. With this, greater exports and production of plastics and resins are expected in the coming years.
