• KOREAN JOURNAL OF PACKAGING SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.41-46
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• 2020

PCR PET flake's market endeavors difficult situations of its oversupply and decreasing demands in South Korea. Since China banned the import of most recycled plastics, flake producers who mostly export the flakes lost their biggest market. The producers struggled to survive in the competitions with PCR PET flake from EU and 3^rd countries but it was challenging due to substandard quality and increasing cost. Attempts to improve the quality of PCR PET flake have been made but they were only an individual company's efforts. The objective of this study was to understand the market status on PCR PET flake in South Korea and to present suggestions for improving its quality. The results of the questionnaires targeted to flake producers showed that no testing methods on PCR PET flake were standardized and there were critical factors to the quality such as moisture content, contaminants, and viscosity. Case studies of US, Japan and other countries had been done especially about testing methods and 76 samples from 21 companies were tested according to those methods. Based on the results, the final factors were decided as contaminants, moisture content, alkalinity index and intrinsic viscosity. There is a plan to standardize testing methods and they could be guidelines to improve the business competitiveness of PCR PET flake in South Korea.