"Terracle believes plastic is one of the most convenient materials humanity has ever created. Global plastic production has never declined throughout human history. Realistically, replacing plastic entirely is currently impossible. Plastic is used not only for convenience but also for hygiene, safety, economic, and environmental reasons. Nearly every industry—including fashion, automotive, food, medical devices, and electronics—requires plastics in various forms. Terracle’s vision is to enable plastics to be used indefinitely without causing environmental pollution."
Terracle is a company specializing in the chemical recycling of waste plastics. CEO Kibaek Kwon founded the company in July 2021. Its research and development have expanded from household waste to difficult-to-recycle industrial waste, marine waste, and discarded appliances.
Terracle primarily recycles colored and composite plastic waste that is difficult to process through mechanical recycling, producing and selling the recycled monomers Cr-TPA (terephthalic acid) and Cr-EG (ethylene glycol). The company supports corporate customers with zero-waste initiatives, lower waste-treatment costs, ESG goals, greenhouse-gas reduction, closed-loop systems, and recycled-material supply. Rather than operating as a conventional recycling company, Terracle provides sustainable ESG solutions.
Minhyeong Yoo, Head of Terracle’s Engineering Team, said, "Under the Ministry of Environment’s Green Technology Certification standards, Terracle’s depolymerization technology recovers approximately 97% to 99% of the original materials from waste. The entire recycling process operates at temperatures below 100°C and does not require pressurization. To minimize environmental impact, we are building an eco-friendly process by replacing chemical solvents with waste-derived inputs and recovering wastewater."
Based on this technology, Terracle can supply large quantities of Cr-TPA and Cr-EG with purity above 99%, allowing them to be used across existing processes without additional additives or equipment expansion. TPA, the company’s main product, is used as a core raw material in packaging, fibers, films, engineering plastics, paints, adhesives, and tire cords. Because of its broad industrial applications, it offers greater versatility than conventional recycled PET chips.
"Most of our market opportunities began with companies approaching us first. We have actively used open-innovation and collaboration programs to develop sales channels. Going forward, we plan to focus on overseas consumer-goods companies in sectors such as fashion and food and beverage that are seeking recycling and circular-resource solutions."
"Rather than leading with the idea of being eco-friendly or doing good, we aim to offer competitive products through technology. What matters most is enabling customers and industries to build a circular-resource society together."
Terracle completed a KRW 10.5 billion Series A funding round from Envisioning Partners, DSC Investment, Hyundai Motor Group’s ZER01NE, Korea Development Bank, and Schmidt.
Terracle currently has 17 employees, 13 of whom are part of its research organization. The company is structured into research, engineering, quality-control, and production teams, and aims to grow to 30 employees this year.
Describing Terracle’s culture, Yoo said, "Compensation and rewards are determined by performance and peer evaluation, rather than age, experience, or order of employment. The organization is characterized by minimal unnecessary meetings, fast decision-making, and frequent communication."
CEO Kibaek Kwon said, "Internally, I want to create an environment where team members can fully develop their abilities, produce results, and receive adequate rewards. A dream workplace is not simply a place with work-life balance or easy work relative to compensation, but one where people challenge their limits and continue to grow."
Terracle is based in the Incheon Innopolis, Korea’s only research and development zone specialized in environmental technology. The Innopolis system designates and develops compact, high-density clusters for commercializing public technologies around regional core institutions such as universities and government-funded research institutes with strong innovation capabilities. Companies in these zones receive administrative and financial support, including commercialization funding, infrastructure and tax benefits, and regulatory exemptions.
