© 2025 Wolfersdorff Consulting Berlin
Dear colleagues & friends of recovered Carbon Black,
How was your start into 2025? Also a kind of a jump start?
Welcome to your February 2005 dose of curated recovered Carbon Black and related news. The views and opinions in this newsletter are my own.
We currently have7.011 subscribers and we currently have 875 members in the LinkedIn rCB group Martin & friends: recovered Carbon Black "rCB" and tyre pyrolysis
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Overview
Bridgestone aiming to produce new eco Carbon Black ("eCB")
rCB looking like a sponge
Reoil on Linkedin
Orion signs supply agreement for TPO with Contec
Late addition1: Epsilon Carbon Terrablack & new appointment
Late addition 2: New venture in Port of Oostende - Tyros BV
ASTM needs you
Late Late addition: Tiger Infrastructure Partners completes investment in Bolder Industries
Last minute addition: VTTI and Pyrum partner for TPO/rCB plant in Port of Antwerp-Bruges
Bridgestone aiming to produce new eco Carbon Black ("eCB")
On Jan 27th, Bridgestone announced a new collaboration project with Tokai Carbon, Kyushu University and Okayama University which aims at producing a new eco Carbon Black (eCB™)¹ from raw recovered Carbon Black produced by ELT pyrolysis (see image).
Technology Development for Carbon Recycling from Polymer Products Including End-of-Life Tires
"Together, the joint project members aim to develop technology to remove impurities from rCB and produce eCB with superior rubber reinforcing properties. The project's objective is to establish a demonstration plant capable of producing 5,000 tons/year of eCB by fiscal year 2032."
As this is an R&D project rather than an operating ecosystem, the timeline is rather long, 7 years for the development of a rather small capacity of 5 ktpa. In 2032, rCB production capacity in APAC region excluding China is estimated to exceed 150 ktpa.²
"Additionally, the project will focus on developing special polymer/carbon composites that enable the reuse of carbon black without the need for pyrolysis of end-of-life tires."
This is interesting and sounds like a devulcanisation technology in development.
It also is unknown, where the raw rCB is sourced from³. There is no current or scheduled rCB production in Japan. However there were rumours about ongoing Bridgestone projects with Enrestec on Enrestec's Instagram account in 2024.
¹ eCB™ trademark by Tokai Carbon
² Source: Prospects for recovered Carbon Black 2024
³ Article title image: Raw recovered Carbon Black before milling looking like a sponge
rCB looking like a sponge
recovered Carbon Black and carbon black look quite different.
When comparing activated carbons with furnace carbon black, the biggest difference is that with furnace carbon black, the surface area is exterior whereas with activated carbons, the surface area is in the micro-, meso- and macro-pores on the inside of the material.
When we look at the images of raw and unmilled recovered carbon black, the agglomerates look like sponges.
The reason for that is that during the pyrolysis of ELT rubber granules, we cannot fully avoid the carbonisation of rubber polymers to carbonaceous residues ("coke") on the surface of the recovered carbon blacks. The pores are created by the evaporation of pyrolysis gases which pass through carbonaceous residues before their solidification.
New and more active surfaces are created during the subsequent milling of the raw recovered Carbon Black. The finer the milling, the better the dispersibility and the potential reinforcement properties. But sub-ultrafine milling can be expensive. The industry has more or less reached a consensus top-cut of a D97 of 10 µm, meaning that 97% of the particles are smaller than 10 µm. Our colleagues at Black Bear Carbon have shown that a D97 of 3 µm (well along with some other changes to the rCB) is quite beneficial for specialty applications like plastic colouring.
By the way, if you have an rCB with an inorganic ("ash") content of less that 16% despite using car tyres as feedstock, it might be an indication that your chosen pyrolysis process conditions cause excessive coking of the rubber polymer. You can try to reduce coking by a combination of changing process temperature, process pressure, process residence time and ELT granule size.
Interested in improving and valorising your recovered Carbon Black? Send me a comment or message!
Reoil on Linkedin
Last year, you might have seen Reoil Sp. z o.o. taking to LinkedIn and sharing news about its Reoil ReBlack rCB and its TPO as well as about its partners including Zeppelin Group, Messer SE & Co. KGaA, and HARKE GROUP.
At the moment, Reoil Sp. z o.o. is the largest and longest running recovered Carbon Black producer in Europe. The company will start construction of its second and much larger production facility in April 2025. The new facility will be also located in Bukowno, adjacent to the existing plant.
In the summer of 2025, Reoil Sp. z o.o. will host the AZuR-Netzwerk Chemical Recycling Workshop.
I really like to see rCB companies work "under the radar" until they have build up a resilient and scalable business. It inspires me to tell their stories!
Orion signs supply agreement for TPO with Contec
Having installed TPO specific tanks at its carbon black production facility in Jaslo, Poland, carbon black producer Orion S.A. now executes its strategy to increase production of circular carbon blacks.
Orion just signed a supply contract with Polish rCB & TPO producer Contec S.A., one of the upcoming and growing rCB producers in Europe. Maybe this will also create opportunities for Contec rCB?
Orion TPO tanks (Source: Tire Technology International, 16.06.2024)
The tanks that were installed at Jaslo look huge (see image above). Yet, if we estimate their size at 25m length and 3m diameter, they could only hold about 150 tons of TPO. This volume of TPO can produce about 77 tons of circular furnace carbon black.
Orion S.A. 's Jaslo site has a capacity for the production of about 40 ktpa furnace carbon black. The exact capacity of the tank storage is unknown, but it could be 5.000 tons. If we estimate 10% of that storage for TPO, this would mean 4 TPO tanks at Jaslo and a yearly consumption of 3,2 ktpa TPO at that site.
This about corresponds to what I think Orion's first TPO supplier, Alpha Carbone, can deliver in 2025. And it might be too tight to rely on. Orion needed a second TPO supplier.
I estimate Contec S.A. to be able to deliver 6+ ktpa TPO in 2025. The two TPO suppliers create a security of supply for Orion. Plus, there is also Reoil Sp. z o.o. who could also supply TPO to the company and a number of opportunistic batch pyrolysis companies in Poland that altogether could supply some further 4 ktpa of TPO.
In summary, very exciting news from Contec S.A. and Orion S.A.!
Late addition 1: Epsilon Carbon Terrablack & new appointment
In a January 21st 2025 press release, Indian Epsilon Carbon Pvt. Ltd. announced it's new Terrablack line of sustainable carbon blacks, including Terrablack 6615, a semi-reinforcing blend of recovered Carbon Black with prime carbon black, and Terrablack 3310, a circular prime carbon black⁴ with N300 tread grade performance.
What I find special is that the company itself intends to built and integrate a full rCB / TPO production line at its Vijaynagar / Karnataka facility for converting 30 ktpa ELTs into 12 ktpa TPO and 9,5 ktpa rCB, starting up in 2026/27. Epsilon Carbon does not detail on the pyrolysis technology used., but I could imagine that the company currently sources rCB from an Indian rCB producer who also will be technology supplier.
Epsilon Carbon also appointed Jakub Szwajka as Head of Marketing in Europe. Congratulations Jakub & team Epsilon Carbon! I know Jakub from his time with a big carbon black transloading company and I am grateful that he presented my Tire Technology Expo presentation in 2023 when I was ill. I am sure we will soon hear more about Terrablack from Jakub!
⁴ Epsilon Carbon actually uses the term "virgin carbon black" on their corporate website. I rather recommend using the term "prime carbon black" There really is nothing virgin about furnace carbon black. The major differentiator of prime carbon black is that it is produced and engineered with one (prime) nodule particle size and a specific aggregate size distribution (larger for carcass grades, narrower for tread grades), whereas recovered carbon black is a mixture of all inorganic materials in the ELT feedstock, including a carbon black blend typically including N300, N600, N500, N200 and N100 grades.
Late addition 2: New venture in Port of Oostende - Tyros BV
The European Rubber Journal reported on February 10th 2025 and Made in West-Vlaanderen reported on January 27th 2025 about a new rCB production venture in the Port of Oostende, Tyros BV.
Both reports gave very little details about the technology provider, but I have a suspicion. First, the reports mention an electrically heated reactor. Second, the mentioned numbers for the mass balance are a little bit different from a typical tyre pyrolysis mass balance. Specifically the oil yield is reported to be only 27%. This very much reminds me of the mass balance of Pyrum Innovations AG 's reactors, which are also electrically heated and, because of the high reactor temperatures of ~700°C (normal condition) - 800°C (BlackCycle condition), can produce more pyrolysis gas than TPO.
In any case, it is fabulous to see an ever increasing interest in the recovered Carbon Black industry!
ASTM needs you
We want to make recovered Carbon Black a reliable commodity in order to create stable supply chains for tyre, rubber and plastics producers.
For this we need a reliable specification and classification of recovered Carbon Black. The current ASTM D36 ballot for rCB classification will be a key first step towards that goal.
If you are an active committee member, please confirm the classification ballot until February 21st 2025.
ASTM needs YOU !
Late Late addition: Tiger Infrastructure Partners completes investment in Bolder Industries
This month is bringing lots of good news and that one is a big one: Bolder Industries is now backed by Tiger Infrastructure Partners with an undisclosed investment⁵.
I see Bolder Industries as one of the pioneers of recovered Carbon Black. It was the first company with a quality control system for assuring rCB quality. However, Bolder Industries was in financial issues since March 2023 and could not advance its new site projects in Terre Haute (brownfield) and Antwerp (greenfield).
In 2021, I had a consulting retainer with Bolder Industries and I am quite proud that I could scout Bolder Industries to their Antwerp location and also win Frank Cremer to work for the company.
At the end of last year, Bolder Industries could win a 32m € grant from the EU Innovation Fund for the site in the Port of Antwerp.
In summary, fabulous news today for both Bolder Industries and the entire rCB industry!
⁵ PRN Newswire 11.02.2025
Last minute addition: VTTI and Pyrum partner for TPO/rCB plant in Port of Antwerp-Bruges
The month of February keeps giving us good news and inspiration and we even still have 2 days left.
On February 26th, VTTI and Pyrum Innovations AG announced their collaboration for a 90 ktpa ELTs capacity facility in the Port of Antwerp-Bruges.
VTTI is an energy infrastructure company owned 50%/50% by energy trading company Vitol and IFM Investors. Vitol was one of the first energy trading companies who pre-contracted tyre pyrolysis oil ("TPO").
What I find interesting are 3 details of this collaboration:
First VTTI will 100% own this and further facilities and Pyrum Innovations is the development partner, whereas Pyrum Innovations typically works with partners through joint ventures. I can imagine that this kind of partnership was chosen not to create conflicts of interests between the TPO supplies for BASF and VTTI.
Second, the target capacity of 90 ktpa ELTs is not a multiple of the standard Pyrum Innovations system capacity of 20 ktpa ELTs. A 4 line Pyrum Innovations facility would have a capacity for 80 ktpa ELTs. The remaining 10 ktpa ELT capacity will come from optimising the existing technology by 12,5%.
Third, VTTI aims at installing Pyrum Innovations technology at further locations, thereby creating even more TPO and also rCB supply capacity.
Brilliant news! Congrats to Pascal Klein and Guy Moeyens and their teams!
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Prospects for recovered Carbon Black 2024 - August 2025 update
Wolfersdorff Consulting Berlin
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