LanzaTech, Sumitomo Riko partner to produce isoprene from rubber, resin waste

SKOKIE, Ill.—In what is being touted as a groundbreaking partnership that ultimately could lead to an alternative source of natural rubber, Sumitomo Riko Co. Ltd. and LanzaTech NZ Inc. will team up to produce isoprene, the main bio-based material in natural rubber.

While Japan-based Sumitomo Riko will supply the rubber, resin and urethane waste for the production of isoprene, an essential chemical intermediate that typically is produced by plants, LanzaTech will supply the technological means by which to convert the waste materials (chiefly carbon) into isoprene.

"This exciting partnership with Sumitomo represents an opportunity to make a significant positive impact on the production of rubber," said Jennifer Holmgren, CEO of LanzaTech. "Thanks to increasing demand across multiple sectors, including medical and automotive, the global isoprene market is projected to be worth around $4 billion by 2025. We need new sustainable pathways for the production of rubber to avoid any impact on land and biodiversity."

And the ability to take this new path toward isoprene through waste resources "is truly groundbreaking," Holmgren said, adding that the process will "keep fossil carbon in the ground and enable domestic, sustainable production of this key raw material around the world."

According to Sumitomo, the company uses more than 46,000 tons of natural and synthetic rubber in its products—which serve the automotive, housing and infrastructure, health care and electronics markets—annually.

And that sort of production generates a lot of rubber waste, both from the manufacturing process as well as rubber and resin waste extracted from automotive parts.

"As we aim to be a sustainable company, we see a vast potential to recycle and reuse our waste materials," said Kazushi Shimizu, president and CEO of Sumitomo Riko. "Our joint development with LanzaTech aims to recycle rubber waste directly into a substitute for natural rubber."

Since hevea natural rubber is subject to blights and climate change, and its harvest can lead to deforestation, biodiversity loss and soil erosion, the Sumitomo-LanzaTech parternship has far-reaching implications.

Natural rubber remains far more eco-friendly than synthetic rubber to produce, as it does not require nearly the same amount of fossil fuels.

"Together with Sumitomo, we aim to create a sustainable supply chain, that enables not only circularity but keeps our forests and planet healthy," said Holmgren. "We need multiple pathways to succeed in producing the key materials in our lives, and we are delighted to be working on isoprene production with Sumitomo."

LanzaTech, founded in 2014, has its roots in converting steel mill emissions into ethanol, and has seen numerous sustainability successes throughout its history.

In fact, a Virgin Atlantic commercial jet used "Lanzanol" on a 2018 trip from Orlando, Fla., to London Gatwick, a jet fuel that used drop-in Jet A along with the pioneering fuel produced from steel emissions.

The company has partnered with Bridgestone (tire recycling technology), BASF, Borealis (foam for athletic shoes made from carbon emissions) and L'Oreal (sustainable polyethylene for packaging) in its carbon recycling efforts.

Essentially, LanzaTech takes what is otherewise considered pollution and uses bacteria to convert it into fuels and chemicals.

"LanzaTech's goal is to challenge and change the way the world uses carbon, enabling a new circular carbon economy where carbon is reused rather than wasted, skies and oceans are kept clean, and pollution becomes a thing of the past," the company states on its website.

Sumitomo Riko, formerly Tokai Rubber Industries Ltd., is based in Nagoya-shi, Aichi, Japan, and is part of the Sumitomo Group.

LanzaTech is headquartered in Skokie, Ill.