“We want to become a major player that can enable even more sustainable material design and waste management strategies for the rubber industry.”
Rubber Conversion and LIFTT met in September 2020, as a Spin-off opportunity for a company already active in the world of circular economy and closed loops. The startup was in fact co-founded and still maintains a strategic partnership with Innovando, a leading company in the field of sustainable and innovative industrial waste management, providing management compliance services, logistics and IoT solutions to implement end-of-life consumer product management programs, alternative fuel and consulting.
The core-business of Rubber Conversion consists in the development and market introduction of a technology for the devulcanization of rubber, a physical-chemical process that allows not only virgin compounds, but also devulcanized compounds derived from the process and technology that Rubber Conversion is creating, to be put back into the new evolutionary cycle.
Rubber Conversion proposes a business idea based on sustainability and impact on the territory that coincides exactly with LIFTT’s vision and its approach to an idea of development that cannot and must not disregard the surrounding context.
The company was founded in 2017 in Cerea in the province of Verona, and its value proposition is divided into two strands.
The first is the provision of proprietary rubber devulcanization solutions for the closed cycle through waste recovery or SRC (Sustainable Rubber Compound). The second concerns the production, called SDR (Sustainable Devulcanized Rubber), of devulcanized compounds of the highest quality that retain most of the static and dynamic properties of the original raw material, are free of harmful chemicals and have a low environmental impact and represent an effective solution to optimize the sustainability of the production cycle, reducing the use of virgin raw material. The market in which Rubber Conversion can operate is very wide, ranging from the so-called “general rubber goods”, i.e. rubber products with applications in different sectors such as automotive and fashion, to products such as tires.
The business is perfectly complementary to the new policies of the European Union on recycling and to the needs of the market, which cannot disregard environmental sustainability and optimization of the cost of raw materials, which today is highly critical. In fact, a particularly important aspect is the company’s adherence to the European program “LIFEGREEN VOLCAN” which began at the end of 2020 and will last until mid-2023, which through significant partnerships of the caliber of Stellantis and Bridgestone has the common goal of co-developing products based on devulcanized rubber and increasing its use throughout the EU.Rubber Conversion proposes a business idea based on sustainability and impact on the territory.
As co-founder Francesco di Pierro explains: “We are very pleased with the successful closing of the funding round, which confirms our vision to become a major player able to enable even more sustainable strategies for material design and production waste management for the rubber industry. Thanks to the new capital, we will be able to enhance production capacity, also to implement new business models and grow in new markets, further evolve the technology, develop the product range and strengthen the team.”
The market for recycled rubber is growing steadily, with a European requirement of around 200,000 tons per year and a trend that is set to increase fivefold over the next 25 years.
As illustrated in the in-depth report by our business analyst Marco Cravetto, its value was estimated at around $2.39 billion in 2018 and, according to various sources, is expected to reach $6.53 billion in 2027.
Driving its growth will be, above all, new European and international regulations, which incentivize integrated end-of-life product management with a view to greater sustainability. Today, the annual European production of waste from the rubber processing industry exceeds 150 thousand tons, which can be destined for reuse instead of disposal or energy recovery.
The positive outlook is also due to the constant increase in the price of raw materials and the difficulties of supply, which are making the recycling solution increasingly attractive, as well as sustainable.
A scenario that prompted LIFTT to participate in the €2.5 million financing round last March. The capital increase was realized thanks to the participation of CDP Venture Capital Sgr through the Evoluzione Fund, of ENETENERGY, a Swiss company active in the energy and raw materials sector, and a group of international angel investors. This round will be necessary mainly to develop the operational and managerial side of the company, to purchase and improve the existing plant that – although pilot – will need to be expanded in order to handle all the volumes that are already in the pipeline at the moment.Rubber Conversion awardsRubber Conversion has received important awards such as the National Circular Economy Startup Award 2018 assigned by the Circular Economy Network Italy and the Keynes Sraffa Award 2019. It is also developing R&D projects in partnership with Bridgestone and Stellantis (with the contribution of the European Union through the LIFE GREEN VULCAN project co-funded by the LIFE19 ENV/IT/000213 program) and with Fondazione Caritro (Cassa di Risparmio di Trento e Rovereto) and the University of Trento.
