© 2023 Wolfersdorff Consulting Berlin - Background pyrolysis plant art created by Midjourney A.I.
Dear colleagues & friends of recovered carbon black,
And just like that, we already are in the month of March. I hope that you had a good start into the new year 2023, despite all the current challenges.
We now have 5.560 subscribers to the rCB News, thank you for your interest! Here is your monthly dose of recovered Carbon Black news.
News of the month: EU sanctions on Russian carbon black
In 2022, both suppliers and customers of carbon black in the EU have been carefully monitoring Russian carbon black imports. Russian carbon blacks are still the cheapest today although import volumes go down. Alternative carbon blacks from India and China have not only been more expensive than Russian carbon blacks, but even more expensive than European carbon blacks.
According to the Official Journal of the European Union L 59 I, Volume 66 of 25th of February 2023, the EU agreed the 10th package of sanctions against Russia.
The sanctions include a prohibition of imports for goods under customs codes 2803 (carbon blacks and other forms of carbon) and 4002 (synthetic rubber and factice derived from oils).
However, an exemption import quota of 752.475 metric tonnes is made for custums code 2803 and an exemption import quota of 562.973 metric tonnes for custums code 4002, from February 16th 2023 until June 30th 2024.
This is huge. I imagine the difficulty for the EU tire industry to replace all Russian carbon blacks with other carbon black grades of better ethical sourcing by June 30th 2024. It looks almost impossible, albeit import volumes already have been reduced in 2022. What do you think? And then the same thing also for synthetic rubbers?
Can recovered carbon black come to the rescue? Well, it can replace part of the Russian imports (soft blacks), but the European rCB supply capability might not yet be able to respond to increased demand. Paul Ita and I are currently editing our industry report "Prospects for recovered Carbon Black 2023". We think the EU rCB industry might be 6-12 months late with their scale-up efforts and significant rCB volumes might be seen by 2025.
How was the number of 752.475 metric tonnes import quota calculated? One explanation could be this: In 2018, record imports of carbon black from Russia were recorded at 549.846 metric tonnes per year. Over a period of 499,5 days (February 16th 2023 till June 30th 2024) the import quota / maximum volume amounts to 752.475 metric tonnes pro-rata.
What do you think about this sanction?
Developing a crystaline silica test for rCB
In recovered carbon black composition, crystaline silica can come from sand debris of the end-of-life-tires ("ELTs"). Especially in the US, nanoform "respirable crystaline silica" is monitored and limited to < 0,1 mass %. The issue is how to measure crystaline silica with a detection limit as low as this. Standard XRD comes to its limits and FTIR is more for qualitative analysis than for quantitative analysis. I am now working with a potential partner and hope to be able to offer this service to rCB producers.
Youtube channel with incredible rCB resources
My Linkedin contact Khairul Alam recently discovered my Youtube channel and wrote me a nice message. Didn't I publish enough advertising for my YouTube channel? There really are a lot of resources there, including many previously payable webinars.
To subscribe to my YouTube channel, go here 👈 (and click the bell, too!).
Artificial intelligence for recovered carbon black
In my recent posts you might have seen me using artwork made by artificial intelligence (e.g. Dall-E or Midjourney). This actually is fun and addictive to explore. In my Youtube video "A.I. Takes Over: How Artificial Intelligence is Revolutionising Tire Recycling" I am exploring Chat-GPT and Dall-E in the context of recovered carbon black. This was a fun video mainly. I think that the 2021 knowledgebase which these systems are using is not yet developed sufficiently for niche topics like recovered carbon black. And our major challenge is the lack of clarity for IP, copyright and solidity of information. Better check with your favourite recovered carbon black consultant, like one of my clients already did.
ASTM D36
A kind of repetition, but I love the progress of ASTM D36 by Pieter ter Haar ( ), Jorge Lacayo Pineda ( Continental) and many others on the new analysis methods including TGA and FT Rheology. I think this year, ASTM D36 could come really close to defining rCB classifications!
The recovered carbon black documentary film
I will soon start filming the recovered carbon black documentary film.
In the next weeks, I will reach out to key players in the industry (rCB producers, laboratories, technology companies etc.), whom I want to include in the documentary. I will offer these companies to invite me (travel expenses fully paid), let me film their production (confidential parts omitted) and interview them and their teams.
I will offer companies who invite me on-the-spot videos, live-streams and ad-hoc consulting, but they will have no influence on the script of the documentary film.
I want to document the state of the industry and I am motivated to show the industry's paradigm change away from "recycling" to "sustainable chemical production". Once produced, you will be able to watch the documentary film on my website in my webshop, popcorn optional.
Want to work with me on this documentary film?
Just contact me on Linkedin or write to martin@wolfersdorff.com.
Thank you for reading this far! You really seem to like recovered carbon black!
If you require consulting support, I am currently open to new projects! Just contact me via email.
Best wishes from Berlin,
Martin
Prospects for recovered Carbon Black 2023
Wolfersdorff Consulting Berlin
#circulareconomy #recoveredcarbonblack #carbonblack #pyrolysis #sustainability
