Bridgestone steps up plans to chemically recycle waste tires

Tokyo – Bridgestone Corp. has launched two separate initiatives to advance the chemical recycling of waste tires and to produce chemical feedstock for the manufacture of new tires. 

In an 18 Feb statement, Bridgestone said it had launched a joint R&D programme to develop chemical recycling technologies that used waste tires to achieve “high-yield production of isoprene.”

The Japanese tire maker's project partners are: the National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology (AIST), Tohoku University, energy group Eneos Corp. and JGC Holdings Corp.

The programme will aim to recover isoprene, a key raw material for production of synthetic rubber, through decomposing used tires at low temperatures and depolymerising them using a “specialised catalyst” technology.

Bridgestone will lead the project, offering its rubber R&D expertise and tire & rubber knowledge for the demonstration plants.

AIST, Tohoku University, and Eneos will be responsible for the development of chemical recycling technologies of used tires and the related evaluation technologies. JGC will be tasked with designing pilot plants. 

Separately, Bridgestone has entered a joint agreement with energy group Eneos to develop chemical recycling technologies that enable “precise pyrolysis of used tires".

Through the project, Bridgestone and Eneos, which is in the process of acquiring JSR’s synthetic rubber business, aim to develop technologies that achieve high-yield production of chemical products, such as butadiene and naphta.

The programme will combine Bridgestone’s rubber and polymer material design capabilities with the crude-oil refining technologies and foundational basic chemical product manufacturing technologies from Eneos.

Large-scale demonstration units will be advanced towards 2030 with the goal of achieving “mass production and swift commercialisation,” Bridgestone said. 

Bridgestone 'places sustainability at the core of management and business and is practicing co-creation with a variety of partners to accomplish its vision,” said Shuichi Ishibashi, the group's global CEO. 

The project with Eneos, added Ishibashi, represents “a significant step forward” in the group’s efforts to increase resource circulation and promote carbon neutrality in the tire and rubber industry.