Falken manufacturer exploring tyre recycling tech

Sumitomo Rubber Group sold 110 million tyres worldwide in 2022 and is well aware of the importance that these products be recycled at the end of their working lives. For this reason, three group companies are collaborating to explore new recycling technologies.

Falken tyre brand manufacturer Sumitomo Rubber Industries (SRI) is collaborating with sister companies Sumitomo Riko and Sumitomo Electric Industries, together with US-based carbon recycling firm LanzaTech Global. This arrangement builds upon the joint development agreement that Sumitomo Riko and LanzaTech announced in November 2022.

With Sumitomo Rubber and Sumitomo Electric now on board, the three companies will work together with LanzaTech to pioneer technologies for transforming waste materials, including rubber, resin, urethane, and metal, into valuable resources.

“We aim to leverage LanzaTech’s biorecycling technology to turn waste materials like tyres into isoprene, which can be used as new rubber materials,” states SRI. “This will be achieved by gasifying the waste materials and purifying the resulting gas, and then putting them through a fermentation process that transforms the gas into new raw materials.”

SRI says the partners are working alongside raw material manufacturers to explore the feasibility of establishing a recycling technology that reuses isoprene for rubber and resin manufacture. “We are also contemplating the idea of recycling the metals recovered during the gasifying process and reusing them as raw materials.”

Towanowa

Announcing these plans, SRI comments that its joint activities will accelerate efforts to create a sustainable society as per its circular economy concept. It calls this concept Towanowa, which can be translated as unending, circular life. Under the Towanowa concept, the Sumitomo Group companies “aim to recycle and make efficient use of finite resources” while capitalising on their collected wealth of big data to provide customers with “groundbreaking, value-added solutions.” The ultimate goal is to “foster a sustainable society, one that ensures safety, peace of mind, and comfort.”