Rubber Conversion, an Italian rubber recycler, has closed a €2.5 million fund raising round to expand manufacturing capacity and enter new markets.

Rubber Conversion, based in Verona, Italy, has a patented industrial technology for rubber devulcanization and produces devulcanized 'high-quality' rubber mixtures that are "free of dangerous chemicals and have a low environmental impact." The compounds can be recovered from post-consumer waste and end-of-life tires and applied "in large percentages" in new rubber products and goods.

According to co-founder Francesco di Pierro, the investment round would enable the company to "strengthen production capacity, apply new business models, and expand into new markets."

Rubber Conversion also intends to use the funds to advance its technology, expand its product line, and strengthen its team.

The recycled rubber market is "constantly growing," according to the Italian company, with current European demand of 200 kilotons per year expected to increase fivefold over the next 25 years.

According to the report, new European and international sustainability regulations that support integrated end-of-life product management will be the primary drivers of growth.

Rubber Conversion offers closed-loop solutions for waste recovery in the manufacturing process as well as devulcanized compounds made from post-consumer rubber.

According to the company, the compounds preserve "the vast majority of the original raw material static and dynamic properties."

Key investors in the capital raising round included CDP Venture Capital SGR through its Evolution Fund; Liftt venture capital chaired by scientist and entrepreneur Stefano Buono and Swiss-based Enet Energy, which operates in energy and raw materials.

To learn more, please visit Rubber Conversion website.