SK Incheon Petrochemical invests in domestic recycling waste tire startup

SK Incheon Petrochemical, a subsidiary of South Korea’s SK Innovation Co., on Sunday said it made an equity investment in the eco-friendly startup LD Carbon.

LD Carbon is a domestic company launched in 2017 possessing the technology to produce eco-friendly carbon black, or raw materials like rubber and tires, and pyrolysis oil obtained by recycling waste tires.

The two companies signed a contract on Friday focused on equity investment at SK Incheon Petrochemical headquarters in Incheon. The share and investment amount were not disclosed. 

Under this deal, SK Incheon Petrochemical plans to procure pyrolysis oil produced from waste tires from LD Carbon.

LD Carbon will build a pyrolysis oil facility using the investment from SK Incheon Petrochemical, whose eco-friendly product production line will go online in the first half of next year.

SK Incheon Petrochemical plans to churn out 20,000 tons of green products annually by using pyrolysis oil in the process, a first in South Korea.

Write to Ik-Hwan Kim at lovepen@hankyung.com