Professor Lee Ki-bong (Chemical and Biological Engineering)’s team, Lee Kong-kyu (Research Institute of Industrial Science and Technology), and Kwak Sang-kyu (Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology) investigated and developed a new method to reduce plastic waste and carbon dioxide (CO2) gas emission in the environment.

The study was taken place with the support of the Ministry of Science and Information, Communication, and Technology (ICT), the Korea Research Foundation, and the C1 Gas Refining Project. The technology they developed primarily focuses on being able to use contaminated polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic bottles to create porous carbon, also known as activated carbon.

After various experiments, their research shows that the activated carbon produced by the plastic bottles has excellent results in capturing CO2 molecules, one of the biggest contributors to greenhouse gases and global warming. The research results are expected to not only solve global warming but also reduce plastic waste. The Korea University (KU) research team stated to continue research on creating highly valued activated carbon by utilizing other products such as waste plastic, coffee scraps, and petroleum cokes.