Analysis: Recovered carbon black needs more industry support

HAMBURG, Germany—The recovered carbon black industry will require deep levels of support and cooperation to deliver on its potential to significantly reduce the environmental impact of the tire and rubber industry.

That's according to a paper by Martin von Wolfersdorf, who has identified a series of "mega challenges" facing what is still, essentially, a start-up industry.

In a paper presented at the Tire Technology Expo 2023 conference, von Wolfersdorf estimated the average capacity of furnace process plants in the European Union at around 113,000 metric tons per year in 2021.

That compared with a "conservatively estimated" average capacity for rCB plants of around 3,500 tons in 2021 and is projected to rise to 13,000 tons by 2025.

"The rCB producers are new companies, and to scale up, they need investment," he said. "They don't get investment because they don't yet have the product (capacity). Without end-product, people don't want to talk to smaller companies."

Addressing these issues, he said, will require new levels of communication and cooperation throughout the supply chain to establish standards, build up capacities and raise awareness of the role of rCB in the tire and rubber market.

Meanwhile, the paper showed that most new rCB projects are currently running 6-12 months late: global capacity is set to grow from 73,000 tons per year in 2021 to 331,000 tons in 2025—almost a year later than previously planned.

To develop more quickly, von Wolfersdorf said, the industry will need to establish common specifications around parameters such as consistency, composition and PAH-content as well as performance in rubber compounds.