<투데이코리아> is launching a special feature series in celebration of its 17th anniversary. The series will highlight small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that are developing new growth strategies, such as the introduction of ESG management, to overcome the severe global economic crisis and pave the way towards becoming leading businesses. The series, titled
This special project is designed to promote the success of SMEs, startups, and outstanding companies in academia-industry cooperation, which are not large corporations, but have competitiveness in their respective fields, to consumers, the government, academia, and the industrial sector. The first company in the series is IQubeGlobal, which is leading the way in responding to ESG management and carbon neutrality policies by developing eco-friendly disposable paper cups and form tape. <편집자 주>
Today Korea=Park Sung-tae Reporter | “The global policy to reduce carbon emissions, which are causing global warming, has emerged as a new issue. There is a massive investment in related technologies and regulations on plastic products to reduce the amount of plastic waste, which does not decompose and causes marine pollution. President Biden of the United States announced a goal to reduce carbon emissions, a major cause of global warming, by half by 2030. The European Union also started strong regulations in 2021, introducing a plastic tax and banning the use of more than 10 types of disposable plastics. However, in Korea, it is regrettable that policies to reduce carbon emissions are being reversed, such as the postponement of the implementation of the ‘disposable cup deposit system’, which was planned to be implemented this year to reduce plastic use and facilitate the smooth collection and recycling of paper cups. In the midst of this, it is fortunate that our company has received the ‘Separate Discharge Indication’ approval from the Ministry of Environment for the first time in Korea for double-coated paper cups. We are currently in talks with S, a global paper cup consumer, and if the deal is successful, it will be an opportunity for the government and large corporations to truly recognize the excellence of SME products, and we want to become a representative company of ESG management that contributes to the government’s carbon reduction policy. Our ultimate goal in corporate management is to create a global eco-friendly company that saves the earth.”
We met with Chairman Kim Deok-il of IQubeGlobal, who is gaining strength with the approval of the ‘Separate Discharge Indication’ by the Ministry of Environment, despite the difficulties faced by the inherent limitations of SMEs even after developing eco-friendly products. We heard about the development of eco-friendly paper cups and his ESG management philosophy.
-Can you briefly introduce the company?
IQubeGlobal, established in 2014, has started a composite nano-material business based on vacuum nano technology developed by itself and is working hard on the development of various new materials.
With the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the company developed and launched new materials with various functions such as antibacterial/antivirus that can help people’s health, and recently developed a biodegradable barrier film to solve waste problems and prevent global warming based on nano technology. It aims to become a company that can contribute to the public interest.
The company has successfully developed a water-soluble paper coating agent that completely dissolves in water and naturally decomposes, and is mass-producing and commercializing not only eco-friendly paper cups but also delivery food plates, disposable utensils, forks, knives, spoons, straws, various disposable containers and utensils, eco-friendly box tapes, and form paper.
-Is it possible to recycle paper cups using a water-soluble coating agent when it is separated by alkali water during the hairing process?
The disposable paper cups currently distributed in the market are coated with polyethylene (PE) on the inside to prevent water from seeping in. The reason why paper cups do not get wet even when they contain liquid is because of this ingredient, which is why it is said that paper cups are actually plastic cups in name only.
Currently, paper cups are not recycled like plastic cups, but are classified as waste and are incinerated or buried. The problem is that polyethylene, a type of plastic, does not rot even when buried, and when incinerated, it emits microplastics and harmful gases.
Existing paper cups, delivery disposable containers, box tapes, and form paper are classified as vinyl and cannot be hairied with existing equipment, so they are dependent on incineration.
The current paper cups used in stores or homes are PE cups (plastic-coated paper cups) that have no recyclability at all, so the government’s plan to collect them and send them to paper companies for recycling as toilet paper can be considered completely wrong.
To solve these problems, our company developed a paper cup using a water-soluble coating agent that dissolves in water. Since the water-soluble coating agent is easily dissolved in water (alkali water), it can be separated and discharged as recyclable paper and 100% recycled.
-Why didn’t other companies develop water-soluble paper cups?
Currently, eco-friendly paper cups using water-soluble coating agents developed in Korea are weak to moisture and heat, have a high defect rate due to blocking properties that cause products to stick to each other, have poor storage properties, and are expensive, so the industry is reluctant to use them and is not entering full-scale production even after developing the technology. I know that other companies that have developed eco-friendly cups using water-soluble coating agents have received eco-friendly label certification and paper product certification marks from the Ministry of Environment, but even though they have contracted with large disposable container consumers such as S, E, and C, and tested them in directly managed stores, they have not been able to supply them in earnest due to reasons such as recyclability and defect rate.
The eco-friendly cup we developed uses a water-soluble coating agent in the same way as other companies, but has almost no defect rate when recycled, has good storage properties, and the price is at a level that can replace existing PE paper cups. In addition, when hairied for recycling, no microplastics are detected at all, and it can be produced and used as 100% recycled pulp in existing paper mills without any separate facilities, so it fits perfectly with the recycling policy that the Ministry of Environment is aiming for.
Our water-soluble double-coated paper cup has been proven to be recyclable up to 97% through a test by UL, a global certification company in the United States. It received a non-detection judgment (based on 45㎛) for microplastics from KOTITI Testing and Research Institute, a national certified inspection research institute. And the water-soluble coating agent also received approval from the U.S. FDA for stability as a food contact material.
Paper cups and form paper can be recycled as toilet paper raw materials or mold food containers by reprocessing high-quality pulp, and box tapes can be recycled as box raw materials by hairing with boxes, and can be recycled up to 10 times.
If the use of eco-friendly cups using eco-friendly water-soluble coating agents that completely dissolve in alkali water in just 5 minutes like regular papermaking is mandatory, it will be possible to achieve the recycling rate that the government is aiming for.
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