The cover of SK Chemicals' 2025 Sustainability Report. [SK Chemicals]
The cover of SK Chemicals' 2025 Sustainability Report. [SK Chemicals]

SK Chemicals reduced its greenhouse gas emissions by more than 60,000 tons last year and expanded the disclosure scope of its Scope 3 emissions — indirect emissions generated across the value chain, including raw material procurement, logistics, and product use and disposal — to cover overseas subsidiaries.

The company announced Thursday that it had published its "2025 Sustainability Report" containing these findings.

In the report, SK Chemicals assessed the vaccine business operated by SK Bioscience and the power generation and utility supply operations of SK Mulri Utility separately, analyzing the ESG impact, risks and opportunities of each business.

The report also discloses the performance and forward strategies for key ESG priorities centered on two material issues identified through a "double materiality assessment" — climate change and energy, and resource circularity. The double materiality assessment examines both the impact of corporate activities on the environment and society, and the risks and opportunities that ESG issues may pose to business and financial performance.

According to the report, SK Chemicals reduced its greenhouse gas emissions by 62,615 tons of CO2 equivalent last year. The company cut emissions from its production processes through improvements to its DMT process, hydrogen co-firing in DMT boilers, utilization of off-gas from the CHDM process, and the introduction of renewable energy.

In addition, SK Chemicals expanded its Scope 3 emissions disclosure — previously limited to the company and its major domestic subsidiaries — to include overseas entities.

SK Chemicals also plans to scale up its transition to low-carbon processes and expand renewable energy adoption, targeting 100 percent renewable energy use by 2032, Scope 1 and 2 net zero by 2040, and Scope 3 net zero by 2050.

In the resource circularity segment, the company said it would strengthen its closed-loop recycling system spanning from securing recycled feedstocks to producing recycled materials, with a goal of raising the share of products based on recycled and bio-based raw materials to 90 percent by 2040.

"We will continue to strengthen communication with stakeholders by objectively and systematically analyzing the impact our business has on the environment and society, and disclosing that information transparently," SK Chemicals CEO Ahn Jae-hyun said. "We plan to secure a closed-loop recycling system to enhance the feasibility and sustainability of our business, and to reflect tasks such as carbon management, human rights, and safety and health management in our business decision-making."


keg@heraldcorp.com