HOUSTON—For Orion S.A., greater circularity starts with the stroke of a pen.
The Houston-based carbon black producer has entered into a long-term supply agreement with Contec S.A. for tire pyrolysis oil, which can be used to manufacture carbon black for tires and other rubber products.
"With the ConPyro TPO supplied by Contec, Orion will be able to make large-scale volumes of circular grades of carbon black that will supply growing demand from the world's leading tire and rubber goods producers," Orion CEO Corning Painter said in a statement. "This is yet another way that Orion is accelerating the transition to a circular economy."
Notably, the agreement with Warsaw, Poland-based Contec allows Orion to diversify its TPO sourcing, complementing a partnership established last year with Alpha Carbone.
"At Contec, sustainability is one of our core values," Contec CEO Krzysztof Wroblewski said in a news release. "This partnership is a clear confirmation to the market that the industry is continuously evolving, and the circular economy is no longer just a vision for the future—thanks to collaboration with Orion, it is becoming a tangible reality today."
According to Orion, TPO-derived carbon black is the only method that is moving toward industrial production scale, and Orion claims to be the only company that has made circular carbon black from a 100-percent TPO feedstock.
Orion said its high-quality circular carbon black products can replace virgin carbon black in many applications.