Lotte Chemical has discontinued construction of a waste-PET depolymerization facility at its Ulsan Plant, approximately five years after announcing the project in May 2021. The original 77 billion-won investment was designed to support a 45,000-ton-per-year depolymerization plant producing BHET for a 110,000-ton annual high-purity recycled PET, or C-rPET, system. The company has spent about 16.6 billion won, primarily completing the C-rPET facility in 2022 and the depolymerization process design, while cancelling the remaining 60.4 billion won. The C-rPET facility will be kept idle rather than demolished, leaving open a possible future restart if market conditions improve. The decision reflects weak petrochemical conditions, Chinese oversupply and slower-than-expected growth in higher-cost chemical recycling. Lotte Chemical's board also approved a 600 billion-won capital contribution to H&L Advanced, the integrated entity combining HD Hyundai Chemical and Lotte Chemical's Daesan operations, for debt repayment and financial strengthening.