CJ Cheiljedang awarded with S. Korea’s first biodegradable plastic certification

CJ Cheiljedang Corp has succeeded in producing certified biodegradable plastic for the first time in South Korea.

It received a test completion certificate for its biodegradable plastic from the Korea Conformity Laboratories.

The Ministry of Trade, Industry, and Energy said that CJ Cheiljedang’s biodegradable plastic showed outstanding performance in a series of official tests,

Biodegradable plastic is made to break down in soil or water by greater than 90%. Previously, evaluation of a plastic's biodegradability and ecotoxicity in soil or water was frequently done abroad.

The ministry thinks that the recent success of domestic tests will hasten the process of biodegradable plastic research and development (R&D) and deliver savings on certification expenses to support the sector.

CJ Cheiljedang, the leading food manufacturer in South Korea, has started mass-producing biodegradable plastic that is made entirely of biomass and degrades in water.

CJ Cheiljedangis was also the first in the world to commercialize aPHA, an amorphous plastic substance that resembles rubber.