Sumitomo Rubber adopts circular carbon black in Dunlop tires

Kobe, Japan – Sumitomo Rubber Industries (SRI) has adopted circular carbon black in the mass production of Dunlop-branded tires for the first time, the Japanese group announced 17 Dec.

The group said has been incorporating “resource-circulating carbon black” in some mass-produced passenger car tires at its production facility in Miyazaki, Japan, since November.

The circular carbon black is produced by chemically recycling rubber scraps generated in the tire manufacturing process and used tires.

The technology has been in development since January and in partnership with Mitsubishi Chemical Corp.

As part of the collaboration, SRI supplies Mitsubishi Chemical with rubber scraps generated in the tire manufacturing process, as well as crushed processed materials (recycled materials) from used tires.

Mitsubishi Chemical feeds these into coke ovens and chemically recycles them to produce “resource-circulating” carbon black. (ERJ report)

The tire maker used the raw material in racing tires in August for the GT300 class of Round 4 of the “2025 Autobacs Super GT,” where they demonstrated “consistently stable performance throughout.”