On August 28, Mitsubishi Chemical Group (MCG) recently revealed that they have launched an innovative study at the Kagawa plant (located in Sakaku City, Kagawa Prefecture) to chemically recycle scrap tires (ELT) through coke ovens. The core goal of the study is to use advanced chemical processes to convert waste tires into sustainable carbon black, and plans to sell this environmentally friendly product to the market by March 2026.

It is understood that MCG Group, relying on its strong supply chain integration capabilities, successfully sent crushed ELT into the coke oven as a raw material, and through a series of chemical reactions, extracted carbon black from tar again. This process marks the world's first pioneering effort to use coke ovens to produce sustainable carbon black from ELT. It is worth mentioning that this recycled sustainable carbon black is no different from traditional carbon black in terms of performance, so it can perfectly replace traditional carbon black for the manufacture of new tires, providing new possibilities for closed-loop recycling of tires.

In order to promote the commercial application of this technology, MCG launched a demonstration experiment of sending ELT into coke ovens in July 2024. They have set clear sales targets: they expect to sell sustainable carbon black at a rate of several thousand tons per year in fiscal year 2025 and increase annual sales to tens of thousands of tons in fiscal year 2030.