SRI partnership to produce sustainable raw materials

SEOUL, South Korea—Japan's Sumitomo Rubber Industries Ltd. (SRI) and South Korean waste tire pyrolysis company LD Carbon Co. Ltd. have agreed to commercialize technology developed by LD Carbon to produce sustainable raw materials for tires.

As part of a recently signed memorandum of understanding, SRI and LD Carbon plan to develop products jointly using LD Carbon's GCB (green carbon black) as partial substitute for fossil fuel-based carbon blacks, LD Carbon said.

In particular, the partners are targeting the commercial launch of GCB-774G and GCB-600 series to replace the existing N660 carbon black grade by up to 20 percent to 70 percent, respectively, the company added.

In addition, the companies plan to promote the commercializtion of pyrolysis oil collected from waste tires.

The volume targeted by the partners is 3,500 metric tons per year GCB and 4,000 tons of pyrolysis oil by 2026.

Based in Seoul, LD Carbon has patented technology to produce recovered carbon black (rCB) through waste-tire pyrolysis. The company is processing waste tires at a recycling facility in Gimcheon, South Korea.

In addition, LD Carbon has broken ground on a $38 million recycling plant, featuring tire shredding, pyrolysis and rCB facilities, and expects to complete the project by year-end 2023.

The plant's targeted capacities are 20,000 tons of recovered carbon black and 20,000 tons of pyrolysis oil per year, according to LD Carbon.

Established in 2017, LD Carbon recycles resource materials (Green Carbon Black, pyrolysis oil, waste tires) that reduce CO₂ emissions, use crude oil resources and solve environmental problems caused by waste tires for a sustainable future.