친환경바이오플라스틱센터 생분해플라스틱 바이오가스화 실증 사업 관련 사진

-Scientific Verification of the Safety and Sustainability of Biodegradable Plastic Biogasification at Incheon National University

-Incheon Metropolitan City, Incheon National University, participated in more than 30 domestic and foreign conglomerates and small and medium-sized enterprises

The Incheon National University (President Park Jong-tae) Eco-Friendly Plastic Center announced that the Biodegradable Plastic Biogasization Demonstration Project" was selected as the Ministry of Environment's Circulation Economy Regulation Sandbox to scientifically verify the possibility of biodegradable bioplastic circulation." 

The demonstration will be jointly conducted with the Korea Bioplastic Association (Chairman Jin In-joo) and Saehan Environmental Technology (CEO Lee Kwang-joon), and more than 30 large and small companies at home and abroad, including CJ Cheil Jedang, LG Chemical, SK Leavo, Dongsung Chemical, and CJ HDC Biosol, will participate in the demonstration to provide biodegradable plastic products to coffee shops, restaurants, university festivals, exhibitions, and coffee shops in the Seoul metropolitan area.

Importance of Biodegradable Bioplastics

Biodegradable bioplastic is a plastic substitute, and its importance is spreading to respond to climate change caused by plastic, and scientific verification of the safety and sustainability of biodegradable plastics is constantly required at the UN Plastic Convention, which is being promoted by the UN Environment Program (UNEP).

Biodegradable bioplastics are characterized by rapid decomposition and can be converted into energy resources through integrated biogasization with existing organic waste resources through pretreatment, but there is no legal regulation on this part because there is currently no collection and classification system for biodegradable plastic products that have expired in Korea. In addition, the Korean government has laid the legal foundation for revitalizing the domestic biogas industry by implementing the Act on Promotion of Production and Use of Biogas Using Organic Waste Resources (22.12.30, Enforcement (23.12.31) in December 2023, and although biodegradable plastics are excellent "resources" for biogasification, they are not being used as "organic waste resources" due to regulations. 

Objectives and Planning of the Demonstration Project

In European countries such as Switzerland, Italy, and Spain, biodegradable plastic is discharged along with food waste and various efforts are being made to convert it into circulating energy through biogasization and composting, but in Korea, there is no separate collection code and collection system for biodegradable plastic waste, so it is discarded as a general pay-as-you-go bag, incinerated, or buried, and cannot be used for circular resource conversion. 

Accordingly, Incheon National University plans to establish a separate collection system for expired biodegradable plastics at coffee shops, restaurants, convenience stores, school festivals, exhibitions, and conferences in the Seoul metropolitan area, and classify and select the collected biodegradable plastic waste to scientifically verify the "stability and potential as an organic waste resource" of biogasification. 

In particular, the demonstration will be carried out in two stages: the first stage of preliminary demonstration (establishment of stability and conditions) using the Biogasization Demonstration Facility for Biodegradable Plastic Anaerobic Materials and Parts Industry, which Incheon National University established through the support of the KIAT Korea Industrial Technology Promotion Agency's "Project to Build a Plastic Substitute Material, Parts and Equipment Industry Support Center" by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy, and the second stage of main demonstration "Verification of the Possibility of Organic Resource of Biodegradable Plastic" using the Incheon Environment Corporation's Biogasification Facility in Incheon Metropolitan City. 

Ministry of Environment's Circular Economy Regulation Sandbox

The circular economy regulation sandbox is a system that exempts or suspends existing regulations for a certain period of time through special regulatory cases or temporary permits for new technologies, services, and products in a limited area. If the empirical results are stable and there are no environmental problems, the safety and sustainability of biodegradable plastic circulation economy resourceization are successfully completed, aiming to improve or supplement related regulations. It is expected that it will greatly contribute to the spread of biodegradable bioplastic-related products through the improvement of related regulations. This is expected to be used as scientific verification data presented in the U.N. Plastic Convention outside of Korea. 

a step toward the future

"This demonstration project will last two years from 2025," said Kang Dong-gu, head of the Center for Eco-Friendly Plastic at Incheon National University. "If the safety and energy potential of biodegradable plastics is scientifically proven through mild economic regulation sandbox demonstration, it will greatly contribute to the spread of eco-friendly bioplastic, the realization of a circular economy, and further achievement of the carbon-neutral 2050 goal."

This demonstration project is expected to mark a new turning point in the domestic circular economy by verifying the possibility of biodegradable bioplastics becoming a resource.