LG Chem said Monday that it would reuse artificial marble waste to produce translucent industrial plastic -- widely used in making pipes, auto body parts and helmets.

According to South Korea’s leading chemical company, it has joined hands with Veolia R&E, which has a patented technology to extract a liquid material called methyl methacrylate, or MMA, from artificial marble waste.

Through the partnership, LG Chem will secure a stable supply of recycled MMA and use it to manufacture translucent acrylonitrile butadiene styrene, or ABS, an industrial plastic used to make light, rigid, molded products.

“Veolia is the world’s first company that successfully extracted MMA by applying heat to artificial marble waste in 2010. With Veolia’s recycled MMA, LG Chem will seek to commercialize the low-carbon, translucent ABS,” an LG Chem official said.

LG Chem is the world’s No. 1 manufacturer of ABS by market share, producing some 2 million metric tons of ABS every year. LG Chem plans to supply the low-carbon ABS to global consumer electronics and IT firms.