LG Chem, a manufacturer of plastics precursors, has established a new research and development (R&D) centre in Frankfurt, Germany.
The South-Korea based company inaugurated its Europe Innovation Centre on Oct. 27. The centre will research ‘eco-friendly future technologies’ including plastics recycling, biomaterials, and battery recycling, LG Chem said in a statement.
The chemicals manufacturer said it has entered talks with leading research institutes and universities in Europe, including Germany’s Fraunhofer Institute and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH Zurich), to establish collaborations with the Innovation Centre. It plans to develop those collaborations into R&D hubs that attract top talent as it aims to increase its R&D workforce in the European Union to 40 by 2028.
“With the opening of this lab, LG Chem will strengthen its R&D capabilities in eco-friendly technologies to a globally leading level,” said Jong-Koo Lee, CTO of LG Chem. “We will also focus on discovering technologies that can be quickly commercialised in high-growth new industries such as eco-friendly plastics and battery recycling,” he added.
LG Chem said it chose to open an innovation centre in Europe because the continent is ‘leading the trend of decarbonising industries’. It cited policy developments like plastic packaging waste reduction and bans, like those in the PPWR, as drivers for its choice to open a European Innovation Centre.
The Centre’s inauguration comes as LG Chem reported its third quarter results, with sales down 6.1% and operating profit down 42.1% year-on-year, respectively. Compared to the previous quarter, however, sales increased 3.0% and operating profit increased 22.8%, respectively.
The company’s CFO Cha Dong-seok said that LG Chem is preparing for future growth by investing in ‘growth engine businesses’ as well as efficiency improvement.
Source: sustainableplastics.com
