South Korean company receives huge financing and plans to expand projects to recycle carbon black and pyrolysis oil

LD Carbon announced that it has successfully raised $28 million in Series C financing.The financing was led by Toyota growth fund Woven Capital. The company plans to use the money to further expand its business, focusing on recycling scrapped tires and automotive materials into recycled carbon black and pyrolytic oil.

Since its establishment in 2017, LD Carbon, a South Korean-based company, has been committed to producing recycled carbon black (rCB) and tire pyrolysis oil (TPO) from waste tires. LD Carbon's pyrolysis and material recovery technology can achieve nearly 100% recovery of waste tires. This technology is not only conducive to environmental protection, but also in line with the trend that automakers are increasingly using recycled ingredients for production. The shift is driven by new net zero emissions targets, environmental regulations and a new European Commission proposal that requires carmakers to use 25 per cent of recycled plastic in production.

Seong Mun Baek, CEO and co-founder of LD Carbon, said: "our mission is to significantly improve the sustainability of the automotive industry and achieve this goal while reducing costs. The partnership with Woven Capital and other strategic investors will provide us with valuable insights and support to help us expand our business and meet the needs of global OEMs as they seek to provide more sustainable cars to picky consumers and commercial customers. "

The new financing comes at a time when LD Carbon is building the largest tire pyrolysis plant in Asia. The company's existing plant in Jinquan, South Korea, has an annual production capacity of more than 7000 tons of carbon black and has successfully supplied to a number of major tire and rubber product manufacturers. In addition, LD Carbon has reached a 10-year tire pyrolysis oil supply agreement with SK Incheon Petrochemical Company, further consolidating its position in the industry. The new pyrolysis plant in Tangjin, Zhongqing South Road, is expected to be completed in 2024 and will have an annual capacity of 50000 tons of scrapped tires, which can be converted into 23000 tons of TPO, 20000 tons of recycled carbon black and 7000 tons of other valuable gases and materials.

The financing also attracted the participation of Meritz Securities, Investwith, Korea Industrial Bank, Hyundai Motor Group ZER01NE, Elohim Partners and New Main Capital.

"LD Carbon is solving a thorny chemical problem that has plagued manufacturers throughout the automotive supply chain," said the head of Woven Capital. As they face increasing pressure to achieve sustainable development goals, LD Carbon's technology and plans to expand production will provide important support for them. The construction of the new plant will further enhance its mature technical strength to maximize productivity and reduce the cost of manufacturing high-performance recycled carbon black, which will provide considerable value to the industry as a whole compared to raw materials. "