Japanese refiner Eneos has launched two studies on the chemical recycling of used vehicle tyres, aiming to turn them into feedstock such as butadiene for synthetic rubbers. It has set a target to start mass production trial runs by 2030.
Eneos, together with domestic tyre manufacturer Bridgestone, will study turning used vehicle tyres into naphtha to generate raw materials for synthetic rubber production.
The refiner has also begun studying producing isoprene from used vehicle tyres with Bridgestone, Japanese engineering firm JGC, state-owned research institute National Institute of Advanced Industrial Science and Technology, and Tohoku University.
Both projects will receive financial support from Japan's green innovation fund, which is managed by state-controlled research and development institute Nedo and set up to help achieve Japan's 2050 decarbonisation goal.
The partners expect further growth in demand for vehicle tyres, hence the need to ensure a sustainable supply of synthetic rubber products in the face of a potential fall in oil product output amid a global shift towards carbon neutrality.
Japanese refiners have been increasingly looking at chemical recycling and switching to biomass feedstocks. Eneos will also study bio-ethylene derivative production using bio-naphtha or bio-ethanol as feedstocks with petrochemical producer Nippon Shokubai and trading house Mitsubishi.
