POSCO’s First In-House Venture, EOMTech, Successfully Develops “Slastic” Railway Sleepers
EOMTech CEO Young-jun Park Founded the Venture While Seeking Solutions for Waste Plastics and Slag
Founded in 2019 as part of POSCO’s first in-house venture cohort, EOMTech developed a composite material called “Slastic,” which uses slag and waste plastics as its main components. Through this innovation, EOMTech maximized cost reductions by replacing a portion of the expensive glass fiber materials traditionally used in railway sleepers with Slastic. Moreover, Slastic sleepers are 100% recyclable, adding significant environmental value—truly achieving “two birds with one stone”: environmental sustainability and cost efficiency.
The early stages of Slastic development were far from easy. Due to the extreme high-temperature and heavy-load conditions of steel plant environments, testing repeatedly failed. However, EOMTech did not give up. Through technical collaboration with POSCO, the company continued redesigning the sleepers and advancing its R&D efforts, ultimately succeeding in developing the Slastic composite material. The technology has since been applied at railway sites within POSCO’s Pohang Steelworks. A POSCO official praised the achievement, stating that “the success of this project represents a case that simultaneously realizes the virtuous circulation of waste resources and enhanced durability of railway infrastructure.”
CEO Young-jun Park of EOMTech said, “Through the development of Slastic sleepers using steelmaking byproduct slag and waste plastics, EOMTech is helping to create a sustainable future.” He added, “Building on this technological capability, we are determined to develop an even wider range of products going forward.”
