LG Chem enters equity-based alliance with green packaging startup Innerbottle

[Source: LG Chem]

LG Chem has acquired a 10 percent stake in a South Korean reusable packaging startup Innerbottle, for about 2 billion won ($1.74 million) as a part of its commitment to environment, society and governance (ESG).

According to investment banking industry sources on Thursday, Korea’s largest chemical company has recently invested more than 2 billion won to acquire a 10 percent stake in Innerbottle to become its major shareholder. It valued the total stake value of the startup at 22 billion won, according to the sources.

Innerbottle offers eco-friendly cosmetics container solutions applying its self-developed elastic ‘inner-cell’ silicon. The balloon-shaped silicon pouch holding the content inside a plastic bottle enables external plastic containers to be recycled without a separate cleaning process, thereby significantly raising the current recycling rate of plastic containers at 13 percent. The elasticity of the silicon pouch also allows consumers to use up the contents inside without leaving any residue, preventing water pollution.

LG Chem has been in partnership with Innerbottle since March to create a plastic recycling platform for complete recycling plastic containers. Under the partnership, Innerbottle makes containers with recyclable plastic materials supplied by LG Chem, which will be collected after use through a dedicated logistics system.

Innerbottle generated no revenue last year but it has secured funding from Shinhan Bank and other investors with its innovative intellectual property. The company has also signed a supply contract with a U.K.-based cosmetics company.

The two companies will also jointly develop ways to produce the inner silicon pouch with LG’s nitrile butadiene latex, which has a higher elasticity and more than five times higher oxygen blocking rate, LG Chem said.

By Kang Doo-soon, Park Chang-young and Lee Soo-min

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