Marubeni Corporation (Marubeni) invested in Green Rubber Energy Company Limited (GRE), which is developing an End-of-Life Tire (ELT) pyrolysis recycling business in Thailand.
Thirty million tons of tires are discarded annually around the world, and a significant number of ELTs are disposed of via landfilling or incineration, which places a high burden on the environment. As a countermeasure, various countries are introducing and strengthening regulations regarding ELT disposal.
In addition, tire manufacturers are aiming to increase the ratio of renewable raw materials in order to realize tire manufacturing that is more considerate of the global environment. Given this background, there is growing attention on recycling technologies that reuse ELTs as tire raw materials to reduce the environmental burden.
GRE has been working for over 10 years on developing technology to extract recovered carbon black and tire pyrolysis oil through the thermal decomposition of ELTs. Until now, it was considered technically difficult to use rCB as a tire raw material in tire manufacturing due to its unstable quality caused by the inclusion of impurities, but GRE has achieved stable production of rCB that can be used for tire applications.
By investing in the business, Marubeni aims to build a tire recycling supply chain in Thailand, from the collection of ELTs to the production and sale of recycled materials such as rCB and TPO.
Utilizing the Marubeni Group network, Marubeni’s subsidiary B-Quik Co., Ltd., one of Thailand’s largest car maintenance company, will supply collected ELTs to GRE, expand the range of uses for rCB by purifying it using technology from Germany’s RCB Nanotechnologies GmbH, in which Marubeni has invested, and expand sales of rCB and TPO by utilizing the sales network of Marubeni Techno Rubber Co., Ltd., a Marubeni subsidiary that procures and sells rubber raw materials and auxiliary materials.
As per the press release, Marubeni will expand the business as a model case to develop tire recycling businesses in Japan, Southeast Asia, and other countries around the world. For the tire and rubber material business, Marubeni aims to build a sustainable value chain from the supply of rubber raw materials to the sale of tires and rubber products.
Through the business, the company will contribute to reducing the environmental impact of ELTs and promote the introduction of renewable raw materials in the tire and rubber industry.
