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Episode 45 of the Tyre Recycling podcast features an interview with Martin von Wolfersdorff, the Managing Director of Wolfersdorff Consulting Berlin. During the interview Martin discusses the current state of play in the tyre pyrolysis sector and the changes seen over the last few year with manufacturers stating to dictate the specifications of their requirements. Tyre Recycling Podcast’s interviewer Ewan Scott also asked Martin to talk about the success of the Smithers Rcb Conference and the problems and opportunities that could exist from the potential crumb rubber restrictions.

During Tire Technology Expo 2023, which takes place from March 21-23 in Hannover, Germany, Michelin won two international awards, bestowed by a panel of experts from the tire industry, the academic world, and the press: • The Tire Manufacturer of the Year award, won for the sixth time, an absolute record. • The Environmental Achievement of the Year- Tire Design award, for the first two tires approved for road use (cars and buses) that include 45% and 58% sustainable materials respectively. This award belongs to a new category, rewarding the technological advances in the industry that are most respectful of the environment.

Scrap tires go through numerous recycling processes before they become new tires. A distinction is made between material recycling (sorting, separating and granulating), raw material recycling (e.g., pyrolysis process) and chemical recycling as the final finishing step of pyrolysis worldwide. As an integrated solution provider with over 40 years of experience in the tire industry, Zeppelin Systems collaborates with international partners in all aspects of scrap tire recycling. The German company RCB Nanotechnologies specializes in the finishing of raw-recovered carbon black. The company thus perfectly complements Zeppelin Systems' wide range of services throughout the sustainable circular economy for the tire industry.

Contec S.A., a startup recovering industrial raw materials from used tires, has raised EUR 10 million in their latest funding round. These funds will be used to expand the efficiency of Contec's plant (Szczecin, Poland) almost threefold. Two investors are providing the funds: HiTech ASI, the corporate venture capital fund of Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego, and the Warsaw Equity Group, which is the majority shareholder. Contec S.A. invests in increasing processing capacity The lead investor of the round is HiTech ASI, managed by VINCI - a subsidiary of Bank Gospodarstwa Krajowego. The second investor is Contec's major shareholder, the Warsaw Equity Group. The funds obtained (EUR 8 million - HiTech ASI and EUR 2 million - Warsaw Equity Group) will be used to increase the processing capacity of Contec's Szczecin plant. Once completed, the plant will be able to nominally process 33,000 tons of used tires per year – three times more than today. In addition, the modernization will increase the production capacity of post-pyrolysis oil and recovered carbon black.

On March 14 2023, Reoil Sp. z o.o. – a company recycling end-of-life tires using continuous pyrolysis process, announced it had signed an LOI with Japan’s Sumitomo Rubber Industries, Ltd – a global tire manufacturer headquartered in Japan – for the commercialization of recovered carbon black (rCB). Through this agreement, the two companies will jointly develop products allowing Reoil’s recovered carbon black to partially replace virgin carbon blacks that produced from fossil fuels. About Reoil Reoil was one of the world’s pioneers in developing a successful continuous pyrolysis technology, which it implemented in its first end-of-life tire recycling plant in Bukowno (Małopolskie, Poland) yet in 2015.

According to the Rubber World Magazine, Tokai Carbon CB announced that its Addis, LA facility is certified to the ISCC (International Sustainability and Carbon Certification) Plus standard, allowing supply of sustainable carbon black. Tokai’s Borger, TX facility was the first carbon black plant in the world to achieve ISCC Plus certification in early 2022. This certification allows Tokai to provide sustainable carbon blacks from two plants using a mass balance process. The ISCC Plus standard uses a mass balance approach to enable users of circular and bio-based feedstocks to certify their products corresponding to the amount of these feedstocks consumed. Tokai Carbon CB currently uses a circular tire pyrolysis oil from ISCC Plus certified suppliers to produce sustainable carbon black declarations that customers are purchasing to produce sustainable consumer products.

Titan International, Inc. and United Steelworkers (USW) called for restrictions on downstream products made from Russian petroleum inputs, citing in particular concerns over imports of off-the-road (OTR) tires from India. Paul Reitz, President and Chief Executive Officer of Titan International, stated, "Imports of Indian OTR tires increased by close to 38% in 2022 compared to 2021. India was not among the nations to ban imports of Russian oil products, including the production of the by-product, carbon black, which is a key ingredient the production of OTR tries. It is vital to our industry that we intensify our efforts to bring light to and close loopholes in the issued sanctions to Russia."

A Seoul-based startup LD Carbon, which specializes in pyrolysis, waste treatment and raw material recycling, received an equity investment from SK Incheon Petrochem, the petrol business subsidiary of SK innovation. Based on its patented technology, LD Carbon produces Recovered Carbon Black (rCB) by utilizing the residue generated from the pyrolysis of waste tires and supplies it to domestic and foreign tire and rubber product manufacturers. With the latest investment, LD Carbon will establish a new facility producing tire pyrolysis oil, which is produced as end-of-life tires decompose. Korea Development Bank will also help it by issuing new convertible bonds.

The European Rubber Journal (ERJ) reports that the EU has included sanctions on imports of both synthetic rubber and carbon blacks from Russia in its 10th package of sanctions in response to the Putin regime’s war in Ukraine. The decision, announced on February 25, introduces import quotas of 562,973 tons for synthetic rubber and 752,475 tons for carbon black, apparently with immediate effect. According to the European Tyre & Rubber Manufacturers' Association (ETRMA), the import quotas are valid until 30 June 2024, after which an import-prohibition will apply.