South Korean waste treatment and raw material recycling company LD Carbon has signed an MOU with Japanese tyre maker Sumitomo Rubber Industries for the commercialisation of recovered carbon black (rCB) and pyrolysis oil.
Through this agreement, two companies will jointly develop products so that LD Carbon’s GCB (green carbon black) can partially replace existing carbon blacks that use fossil fuels. Based on its patented technology, LD Carbon produces rCB by utilising the residue generated from the pyrolysis of waste tyres and supplies it to tyre and rubber product manufacturers.
LD Carbon and Sumitomo Rubber Industries jointly targeting to commercialise GCB-774G and GCB-600 series, aiming to replace the existing carbon black (N660) by up to 20% to 70%, respectively.
In addition, they plan to promote commercialisation of pyrolysis oil collected from waste tyres. The volume targeted by the two companies by 2026 is 3,500 tonnes/year of GCB and 4,000 tonnes/year of tyre pyrolysis oil.
Sumitomo Rubber Industries is the overseas tyre company to do business with LD Carbon.
Bum-seek Kim, Sales Director of LD Carbon, said “LD Carbon will continue to push its effort to be an eco-friendly carbon black manufacturer that leads the global market through steady cooperation with global tyre manufacturers”.
Meanwhile, LD Carbon is proceeding with the construction of a new plant equipped with shredding, pyrolysis and rCB facilities through an investment of more than US$38 million, with the goal of completion by the end of 2023. The plants are expected to be able to produce about 20,000 tonnes of GCB and pyrolysis oil every year. Upon completion LD Carbon’s new plant will be the largest scale in Asia.