Search Results

South Korean waste treatment and raw material recycling company LD Carbon (CEO Baek, Seong-mun and Hwang, Yong-kyung) announced that it had signed an MOU with Japan’s Sumitomo Rubber Industries, Ltd. for the commercialization of sustainable tire raw materials. Sumitomo Rubber Industries is a global tire manufacturer head quartered in Japan, ranked global No.5 in terms of sales (approximately 7.25 billion USD) LD Carbon and Sumitomo Rubber Industries held a business agreement ceremony at the headquarters of Sumitomo Rubber Industries located in Kobe, Japan on November 18 and promised to cooperate in the commercialization of recovered carbon black and pyrolysis oil.

Due to the global pandemic caused by the outbreak of Covid-19, the tire pyrolysis industry has diverse opinions about the fate of recovered carbon black (rCB) produced by pyrolysis plants. As rCB business largely depends on market dynamics of the virgin carbon black, one needs to analyze the carbon black industry to forecast rCB business opportunities. In this article, we would like to reassure our industry members engaged in pyrolysis and rCB production that despite disastrous impact of Covid-19, there are strong signs of recovery. Below, we cite articles recently published by the European Rubber Journal (ERJ), which give a great deal of hope to the industry.

Scandinavian Enviro Systems (Enviro) reports that its Recovered carbon black will be introduced in a customer-specific rubber compound supplied by Trelleborg Mixing Forsheda. According to Enviro, the introduction means that its recovered carbon black takes a step into a new segment and is the result of successful production tests and a long-term collaboration between the parties. Volumes and dates for future deliveries remain to be determined.

Scandinavian Enviro Systems (Enviro) has developed a new type of recovered carbon black with improved dispersion properties. The new type of carbon black has been developed to meet demand from the tire and rubber industry. The new type of carbon black has been produced for some time at Enviro’s plant in Åsensbruk, Sweden, and has acquired properties enhancing its interaction with other chemicals and ingredients when manufacturing tires and rubber parts, for example.

According to the latest Smithers’press release, the Carbon Black World 2023 Conference, organized by Smithers and supported by the local host partner Jiangxi Black Cat, was a great success. 20+ speakers and 400+ delegates joined the conference in Jingdezhen, 11-14 April 2023.The conference brought together an international audience that spanned the entire value chain, including producers, end-users, equipment suppliers, and solution providers across the tire, rubber, plastics, compounds, and ink industries. “We were delighted to bring the Global leaders of the Carbon Black value chain to China, the world’s largest carbon black market.”, said Ciaran Little, VP, Americas & Asia Pacific, Information Division at Smithers. “The event provided a timely forum for discussion of the key opportunities and challenges in the sector and a vital platform for collaboration and future partnership.”

ASTM International – a standardization body introducing key definitions of products and materials with over 12,800 ASTM standards already in work worldwide – recently published their first standard relating to recovered Carbon Black (rCB). The ASTM Committee D36 on Recovered Carbon Black (rCB) was founded in 2017 to support the emerging rCB industry regarding the quality and safety of their products. Several sub-committees are responsible for developing standards for terminology, guidance, practices, and testing methods. Recovered Carbon Black, typically derived from the thermal degradation of end-of-life tires, is a relatively new, sustainable raw material product for use in rubber, plastics, and pigment applications.

The carbon black of PCBL plant is the latest in a series of expansion projects undertaken by the Indian manufacturer. According to the magazine, last year, PCBL added two speciality carbon production lines at its facility in Palej with a combined capacity of 30 kilotons per annum. In addition, yet in 2019, the company increased production at its brownfield unit in Mundra, Gujarat by 50 kilotons per annum. Moreover, from the summer 2020 onward, the company has been strengthening its positions thanks to its new R&D center in Belgium.

Zhongce Rubber Group (ZC Rubber) has confirmed the upcoming launch of a new carbon black production facility at its Tianjin site in China, with operations expected to begin by the end of the year. Part of a larger Yuan2 billion (€250 million) investment, the plant will have an 85 kilotonnes per annum (ktpa) capacity, producing both hard and soft carbon black grades. The facility will include two 30ktpa lines for hard-grade carbon black and a 25ktpa line for soft-grade carbon black.

US-based Bridgestone announced recently that it has commenced producing tires containing carbon black (rCB) at its facility in Des Moines. In tire production, the company relies on carbon black supplies from its partner Delta-Energy, and uses its product, D-E Black, as the only source of the recycled material. Currently, Bridgestone has bought some 215 metric tons of Delta Energy’s rCB – this is the equivalent of over 60,000 scrap tires. By the end of next year, the company expects to apply around 6,800 of D-E Black, which would reduce over 20 million pounds of carbon emissions.