Japanese trading house Marubeni has invested in Green Rubber Energy in Thailand

Green Rubber Energy has seen Japanese investors take a 32 percent share in the business. The investment is estimated at 1 billion yen ($7 million).

Marubeni understands Green Rubber Energy’s pyrolysis technology will attract tyre manufacturers seeking to cut carbon emissions over their entire product life cycle.

This is a further indication of a sea-change in the market that has, for so long, eschewed pyrolysis. This investment adds to the growing understanding of the future of both tyre recycling and tyre pyrolysis.

With proprietary temperature, pressure, and other conditions, Green Rubber Energy’s technology can reclaim carbon black with impurity content of less than 20 percent, claimed to be a higher quality than its competitors.

The technology already delivers recovered carbon black that meets joint specifications proposed by Bridgestone and Michelin, according to Marubeni. However, the Thai affiliate can bring down the ratio of impurities below 4% by using a technology from a German company that Marubeni also has a stake in.

The investment will help Green Rubber Energy boost production from 10,000 tpa to 15,000tpa according to the press release.  There are also plans to build further plants in Japan and Indonesia.