©2025 Wolfersdorff Consulting; including a Smithers image showing Marc Giersemehl (NEA) and me at rCB23
Dear colleagues & friends of recovered Carbon Black,
Welcome to your October 2025 dose of curated recovered Carbon Black and related news. The views and opinions in this newsletter are my own.
We currently have7.443 subscribers and we also currently have 1.088 members in the LinkedIn rCB group Martin & friends: recovered Carbon Black "rCB" and tyre pyrolysis.
Overview
K2025 Plastics Fair
Circtec starting commissioning of Delfzijl site this month
rCB vs plastics pyrolysis pigment vs methane splitting carbon
Late addition 1:Liberty Tire Recycling acquired by I Squared Capital
Late addition 2: Pyrum starts construction in Perl-Besch, Germany
Upcoming Smithers rCB Europe in Barcelona
K2025 Plastics Fair
The triennial "Kunststoffe" fair in Düsseldorf is the largest and most important event in the global plastics industry and showcases the whole plastics supply chain from raw materials like polymers and pigments up to semi-finished materials like masterbatch and extruded or injection milled parts up to production machinery. I was there on Day 1 and Day 2.
Having worked in titanium dioxide, custom colour masterbatch and carbon black, I was mostly interested in carbon black and masterbatch news and I spoke with
Frank Cremer ( Pyrum Innovations AG): Pyrum's new rCB finishing line is running and expected to be completely operational by the mid of this month.
Paul Lloyd ( FARREL POMINI®): The company's CPEX 30 kg/h lab processor is on display at K2025 . The company also processed some 30% and 40% rCB PE masterbatches for the AZuR-Netzwerk with rCBs coming from WF Recycle-Tech, Pyrum Innovations AG and Reoil Sp. z o.o.. These masterbatches were on display at the AZuR stand.
Himanshu Patel ( BKT Carbon): The company is at K2025 for the first time and targeting plastics & specialty applications.
Alessandro Vulcano ( Birla Carbon): Presenting the established Raven range, conductive carbon blacks and Nanocyl SA multi wall carbon nanotubes.
Cedric de Villepin ( Nanocyl SA): MWCNTs have an aspect ratio of more than a 1,000 and they are 4x more mechanically resistant than steel. A typical masterbatch loading is between 10 and 20 to 25% weight.
Thomas Franken ( Messe Düsseldorf): K2025 has more than 3.200 exhibitors from 66 nations, a new record for the K-Show. More than 180.000 visitors from more than 160 nations are expected.
John Kozma ( Modern Dispersions): The company is the largest black masterbatch producer in North America and has been in the black master batch business for 50 years. MDI started developing rCB masterbatches 10 years ago and now ships truck loads of rCB masterbatches.
Christina Guth ( AZuR-Netzwerk): The AZuR-Network did a press conference at K2025. It has 90 partners and focuses on tyre sustainably for the 3.5 mtpa of scrap tires in Europe, including 600 ktpa in Germany. The network believes that Germany is at most at 15% tyre circularity as about 40% of tyres are still being exported. Watch the full video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=37qiaT-Kmo4
You can also watch these interviews and more on the Carbon Black & rCB YouTube channel!
Circtec starting commissioning of Delfzijl site this month
Robert Harper from Circtec gave the Smithers rCB Europe Podcast team an interview from the company's new Delzijl, The Netherlands, rCB production site, standing on top of the emissions control tower. I love this kind of interviews! Congrats Circtec!
Circtec secured €150 million euros to construct its 20-hectare flagship recovered carbon black (rCB) plant in the Northern Netherlands. After 15 years of developing its technology, which includes completing three dedicated REACH registrations, the facility is nearing commissioning. The plant is already the largest in Europe by a factor of at least five maybe seven, and its entire output is totally sold out for the next seven years.
Watch the full video here:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tW1B_33Dhgo
rCB vs plastics pyrolysis pigment vs methane splitting carbon
An interesting discussion developed online here on LinkedIn with an article on Plastic Energy shared by Romain Roux ( Axens) and also Graeme Kennett BSc(Hons), MSc., MBPR(Fert)., MCIWM (Graeme, you have quite a long name line 😉).
On both shared articles, I was asked to comment and interestingly comparisons with rCB and methane splitting carbons came up. I am going to share my view, but I am interested in how YOU see the future of these 3 carbons. Please comment your view 🫵
My view is:
Furnace Carbon black will stay and I do not see a 100% replacement for all furnace carbon blacks in the next 20 years.
rCB will make inroads in rubber & plastics applications. Plastic pyrolysis filler will go into plastic colouring.
Methane splitting carbons are very diverse, anything from char over carbon black to nano-materials. These will go into diverse applications including construction, plastics and rubber.
Plastic pyrolysis carbons will make inroads mainly in plastic colouring and construction colouring applications.
How do YOU see the future of these 3 alternative carbons? Please comment your view 🫵
Late addition 1: Liberty Tire Recycling acquired by I Squared Capital
Liberty Tire Recycling, LLC was acquired by I Squared Capital.
Tyre collection and primary shredding generally is low margin business and often depends on the recycling fees upstream. Liberty collects an impressive 75% of US scrap tyres and hence is an important partner for the developing rCB industry in the USA.
While current efforts of the rCB are focussed on getting the required volumes of scrap tyres secured, future efforts will also include the curation of specific scrap tyre mixes, e.g. by type, brand, composition.
Late addition 2: Pyrum starts construction in Perl-Besch, Germany
Pyrum Innovations AG will hold the groundbreaking ceremony for its new rCB plant in Perl-Besch, Germany, on November 14, 2025. Perl-Besch is some 4 km north of Schengen, at the shore of the river Mosel. The facility will process over 22.000 tons of end-of-life tyres per year, doubling the company’s recycling capacity and increasing the feed rate to the 3 reactors from 20.000 tons to 22.000 tons per year.
Construction preparations are already advanced, with long-lead equipment ordered and site works underway. Commissioning is planned for 2027. The €25 million BASF credit line and additional financing from a major European bank will support the project, expected to finally bring Pyrum to profitability upon startup.
(Source: EQS News-Service press release of 16.10.2025)
Upcoming Smithers rCB Europe in Barcelona
After the show is before the show. And what a show! We are 100% prepared for the Smithers rCB Europe Conference in Barcelona on November 4th, 5th and 6th.
The rCB workshop is on November 4th. It will be held by me and Krzysztof Wróblewski , CEO and CTO at Contec S.A.
The rCB Europe Conference is on November 5th and 6th. The YouTube video below details you all sessions and presenters.
See you in Barcelona!
Wait, if you have not booked yet, you definitely should book now! You can go here: https://bit.ly/Book-rCB-Europe (make sure to book the workshop too)!
Watch my agenda walk-through here:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Iefd2cusd4
Prospects for recovered Carbon Black 2024 - August 2025 update
Wolfersdorff Consulting Berlin
