Korea Industrial Complex Corp.'s South Jeolla Province branch launches the Yeosu Digital-Based Resource Circulation Pilot Industrial Complex project.
A resource circulation system that recycles organic sludge generated at the Yeosu Petrochemical National Industrial Complex to produce electricity and dramatically reduce greenhouse gas emissions is now underway.
The petrochemical industry releases large volumes of greenhouse gases during naphtha cracking. The new initiative is expected to offer a fresh breakthrough for the Yeosu complex, which has struggled under tightening carbon neutrality regulations and rising waste disposal costs.
The Yeosu Smart Green Industrial Complex project team under Korea Industrial Complex Corp. (KICOX) held a kickoff briefing Tuesday for the "Yeosu Digital-Based Resource Circulation Pilot Industrial Complex Construction Project" at the KICOX South Jeolla Province branch.
The briefing brought together the KICOX South Jeolla-Gwangju Metropolitan Headquarters' South Jeolla Province branch, the Yeosu city government, and the implementing body — a consortium led by Jeonnam Technopark — to share the project plan and strategies for expanding outcomes.
Jeonnam Technopark serves as the lead implementing agency, with five participating companies: Neolab, Sentient Systems, GS Caltex, the Korea Institute of Industrial Technology Research Association and Korea Environment Corporation.
The project was selected through a 2026 competitive call for the "Digital-Based Resource Circulation Pilot Industrial Complex Construction Project." It carries a total budget of 12.59 billion won ($9.36 million) — comprising 7.5 billion won in government grants, 3 billion won in local government funding and 2.09 billion won in private contributions — and will run for 16 months through December next year.
The project will build an "industrial symbiosis map" based on waste and byproducts generated by individual companies within the Yeosu National Industrial Complex, establish a resource circulation platform and provide commercialization support.
By next year, the project aims to cut greenhouse gas emissions by approximately 10,606 tons of CO2 equivalent — comprising 205.6 tons of direct emissions, 10,000 tons of indirect emissions and 400.1 tons through a power generation model — while reducing waste output by 0.5 tons per day and achieving a resource circulation utilization rate of up to 60 percent.
A portion of revenue generated through the pilot project will be reinvested to secure a sustainable circular-economy business model linking the industrial complex and the surrounding community.
"This project will give the Yeosu National Industrial Complex a data-driven resource circulation management system and serve as a turning point for its transformation into a circular-economy complex that simultaneously achieves waste reduction and energy and resource recovery," said Hong Yeong-gi, head of the Yeosu Smart Green Industrial Complex project team.
parkds@heraldcorp.com
