S-Oil has switched 100 metric tons of waste fiberglass from landfill to recycling. It now plans to extend its waste recycling efforts to the Shaheen Project, which is set to begin commercial operations next year.
According to industry sources on Oct. 25, S-Oil will bring the waste-to-resource approach it has pursued at its existing refinery to Shaheen. The 100 tons of fiberglass waste was bound for landfill last year and was redirected to recycling. The company has since handled that waste stream through recycling rather than burial.
At Shaheen, S-Oil will first review recycling options for the waste generated at the site. It will weigh the type of waste and how feasible it is to process. The goal is to move away from a disposal system built around incineration and landfill.
Ahead of construction and maintenance work, which generates large volumes of waste, the company is also training its contractors. The training aims to ensure workers sort and handle waste correctly from the start, so recyclable material does not end up incinerated or landfilled.
S-Oil is also searching for new recycling partners. It is looking for recyclable waste that used to be incinerated or landfilled and shifting it to other treatment methods. The company says it will keep adding partners to open up channels for turning a wider range of waste into resources.
Refineries inherently produce a wide variety of waste through crude oil processing and through equipment construction and maintenance. Some of it is hard to recycle, so incineration and landfilling carry high costs and a heavy environmental burden. Korean refiners are building circular-economy systems in line with the global push for carbon neutrality. Waste recycling is spreading across the industry because it reduces environmental impact and makes better use of resources.
Industry watchers expect such efforts to cut the environmental burden of waste disposal significantly. S-Oil says it aims to reduce the waste it incinerates or landfills while making greater use of recycled materials. Over the long term, it hopes to contribute to a circular economy and a stronger recycling industry.
“We will continue to expand waste recycling at our sites and prioritize recycling options wherever possible, contributing to a circular economy,” an S-Oil spokesperson said. “We will keep improving our waste management system to support sustainable operations.”
The Shaheen Project is the largest single investment in Korea's petrochemical sector, with a total budget of 9.258 trillion KRW. It involves building large-scale petrochemical production facilities at the Onsan National Industrial Complex in Ulsan. The company will begin trial operations across the entire plant next month, ahead of commercial operations next year.
