Sumitomo Rubber: Sustainable Tires

Sumitomo Rubber Industries, Ltd. has recently achieved a significant breakthrough in the field of sustainable materials, applying for the first time a resource-recyclable carbon black produced using a chemical recycling process to the mass production of passenger car tires.

This achievement, based on close collaboration with Mitsubishi Chemical Corporation, has already been validated under extreme conditions in the SUPER GT racing series. It not only establishes a closed-loop resource system throughout the tire's entire lifecycle but also provides a feasible technological path for reducing carbon emissions in the global tire industry.

The core of this application is a world-first coke oven chemical recycling process. This process will enter the substantive implementation phase in January 2025 with the launch of a special cooperation project between the two companies. The collaboration forms a complete resource recycling chain: Sumitomo Rubber provides Mitsubishi Chemical with rubber scraps generated during tire production, as well as processed recycled waste tire materials.

Mitsubishi Chemical mixes these with coal and feeds them into a coke oven, where high-temperature pyrolysis extracts tar, thereby producing resource-recyclable carbon black, which is ultimately supplied back to Sumitomo Rubber for tire manufacturing.

This model effectively addresses the limitations of traditional waste tire disposal methods—previously, most waste tires in Japan were simply incinerated as a heat source, resulting in low resource utilization and significant carbon dioxide emissions. The new process enables the efficient recycling of key materials such as rubber and carbon black.

Prior to mass production, the recycled carbon black underwent performance verification in harsh environments. In August 2025, racing tires equipped with this carbon black debuted in the GT300 class of the fourth round of the "2025 AUTOBACS SUPER GT" race. Their excellent grip, wear resistance, and anti-aging performance helped the car win for two consecutive days.

The SUPER GT race places extremely high demands on tire performance, and this demonstration clearly shows that the mechanical properties of recycled carbon black are on par with traditional fossil-based carbon black, eliminating industry concerns about the insufficient performance of recycled materials.

In fact, Mitsubishi Chemical initiated relevant verification experiments as early as July 2024, systematically evaluating the compatibility of this technology with existing production processes, laying the foundation for subsequent large-scale application.

Since November 2025, Sumitomo Rubber has been mass-producing recycled carbon black at its Miyazaki plant in Japan, applying it to some Dunlop brand passenger car tire products. Carbon black, a key reinforcing material for tires, accounts for approximately one-quarter of their weight. Traditional carbon black relies on fossil fuels such as coal and oil, while the use of recycled carbon black significantly reduces this dependence on fossil resources.

Mitsubishi Chemical has a clear plan for capacity expansion: achieving a capacity of several thousand tons of recycled carbon black by fiscal year 2025, and expanding to tens of thousands of tons by 2030, providing a stable supply guarantee for Sumitomo Rubber to further expand its applications.

This breakthrough is an important manifestation of Sumitomo Rubber's commitment to the "TOWANOWA" circular economy concept and injects new momentum into the green transformation of the tire industry. Currently, the global tire industry faces increasingly severe environmental pressures, and effective solutions are urgently needed to address the "black pollution" caused by waste tires and achieve carbon neutrality goals.

The collaboration between Sumitomo Rubber and Mitsubishi Chemical not only achieves a complete closed loop from raw materials and products to waste recycling but also verifies the potential for large-scale implementation of chemical recycling technology.

With its application scope continuing to expand after 2026, this technology is expected to help the entire tire industry reduce carbon emissions, provide key support for the green transformation of the automotive industry supply chain, and demonstrate the core value of cross-industry collaborative innovation in promoting sustainable development.