Kumho and Orion Join Hands for Joint Development of Eco-Friendly Tires

Kumho Tire announced on the 28th that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Orion S.A., a U.S.-based specialty chemicals manufacturer, and its Korean subsidiary Orion Korea to collaborate on the joint development of sustainable tires and raw materials.

Under this MOU, the two companies will undertake a tire research and development project applying renewable raw materials such as vegetable oils and other bio-oils, as well as carbon black produced from pyrolysis oil derived from waste tires. They plan to increase the use of eco-friendly carbon black in tire manufacturing.

Im Wan-joo, Executive Vice President of Corporate Planning at Kumho Tire (left in the photo), and Kim Kyo-young, CEO of Orion Korea, are posing for a commemorative photo at the MOU signing event.
[Photo by Kumho Tire]

Orion S.A., which operates 15 factories worldwide, was the first in the chemical industry to receive international sustainability and carbon certification last year for various grades of carbon black made from renewable and recycled raw materials. Kumho stated that tire manufacturers are cooperating to reduce environmental burdens.

Last year, Kumho Tire developed tires using 55% sustainable raw materials and recently increased that figure to 80%. Im Wan-joo, Executive Director of Kumho Tire’s Management Planning Division, said, "Our goal is to convert 100% of all raw materials to sustainable materials by 2045," adding, "We will continue to focus on establishing a global environmental management system and developing eco-friendly products."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.