LD Carbon signed an MOU with Sumitomo Rubber Industries for the commercialization of recovered carbon black and pyrolysis oil

Commitment to commercialization of recovered carbon black and pyrolysis oil using waste tires

SEOUL, South Korea, Dec. 13, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Waste treatment and raw material recycling company LD Carbon (CEO Baek, Seong-mun and Hwang, Yong-kyung) announced that it had signed an MOU with 'Sumitomo Rubber Industries, Ltd.' for the commercialization of sustainable tire raw materials.

Sumitomo Rubber Industries is a global tire manufacturer head quartered in Japan, ranked global No.5 in terms of sales (approximately 7.25 billion USD) in the "2022 Global Tire Company Rankings" compiled by tirebusiness.com.

LD Carbon and Sumitomo Rubber Industries held a business agreement ceremony at the November 18 and promised to cooperate in the commercialization of recovered carbon black 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 Recovered Carbon Black (rCB) by utilizing the residue generated from the pyrolysis of waste tires and supplies it to tire and rubber product manufacturers.

LD Carbon and Sumitomo Rubber Industries jointly targeting to commercialize 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 commercialization of pyrolysis oil collected from waste tires. The commercialization volume targeted by the two companies by 2026 is 3,500 tons/year of GCB and 4,000 tons/year of tire pyrolysis oil.

In particular, the business agreement (MOU) signed by LD Carbon with Sumitomo Rubber Industries is meaningful in that it is the first business agreement signed by LD Carbon with an oversea tire company.

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 tire 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 38 million USD, with the goal of completion by the end of 2023. The plants are expected to be able to produce about 20,000 tons of GCB and pyrolysis oil every year. Upon completion LD Carbon's new plant will be the largest scale in Asia.