Dongkuk CM Co. Ltd., the cold-rolled steel business unit under Dongkuk Steel Group, has developed a groundbreaking technology to manufacture electric furnace hot-rolled color steel sheet with recycled plastic materials, a global first in the industry.

The company created sophisticated and visually appealing color steel sheets by infusing color and heat into iron’s essence.

On Wednesday, Dongkuk CM announced the development of its eco-friendly color steel sheet product ‘Re-born Green PCM,’ which is produced using recycled materials.

‘Re-born Green PCM’ offers an environmentally friendly solution, recycling about 100 PET bottles of 500ml capacity per ton of production. Even though they are made using recycled materials, these color steel sheets can achieve the aesthetics and functionality required for household appliances. Leveraging its joint research with a Korean paint company, Dongkuk CM plans to more than double the sheets’ recycled plastic material content, pushing for greater sustainability in their products.

While electro furnace steel sheets exhibit a carbon emission level of merely 25 percent compared to those produced by a blast furnace, challenges remain in meeting processing requirements. After extensive research and development, Dongkuk CM successfully integrated electro furnace steel sheets into the production of color steel sheets, a first in the industry.

As Korea’s largest producer and exporter of color steel sheets, Dongkuk CM aims to adapt to future regulations such as the European Union’s Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) by implementing this technological advancement. By using recycled materials for both the base and raw materials, the company has expanded its scope of emissions control to cover indirect emissions in the supply chain (Scope 3).

By Cho Yun-hee and Minu Kim

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