Ulsan designated as global hub for recycled carbon fuel production

Ulsan city announced Tuesday that its "Ulsan Recycled Carbon Fuels Regulation-Free Zone" has been officially designated following deliberation and approval by the Regulation-Free Zone Committee, chaired by the prime minister. The designation is part of the city's push to shift its core petrochemical and refining industries toward environmentally friendly operations.

The zone covers 0.138 square kilometers across the Techno Industrial Complex in Nam-gu and the Onsan National Industrial Complex in Ulju-gun, and will remain in effect from Wednesday through Dec. 31, 2030 — a period of four and a half years.

Five companies, six innovation institutions and two universities will participate in the project, conducting a four-year demonstration program beginning in January next year to verify a system for producing recycled carbon fuels through pyrolysis of waste plastics. The project will also pursue quality standardization of the final fuel output.

Pyrolysis oil derived from waste plastics is currently not recognized as a petroleum substitute fuel, and no quality certification standards have been established, making commercialization of the related technology difficult. The zone designation is expected to enable technology verification through demonstration and facilitate regulatory improvements.

"This designation will serve as a turning point for transforming the petrochemical industry — which has been struggling amid a global oversupply of commodity products — into an eco-friendly, high-value-added sector, and for positioning Ulsan as a global hub for recycled fuel," a city official said.