Bridgestone & Michelin: Annual rCB market may reach million tonnes by 2030

During the Smithers Recovered Carbon Black conference, which took place in Berlin in November, Bridgestone and Michelin jointly shared the results of efforts to develop a global standard to increase the utilisation of recovered carbon black in tyres. The two companies and other industry stakeholders are working through the technical challenges linked to the use of recycled or recovered materials from end-of-life tyres to achieve material circularity at scale that enables the realisation of a cleaner and more sustainable mobility ecosystem.

The tyre makers, who have both set goals of 100 per cent sustainable materials in their tyres by 2050, concede that capacities for producing recovered carbon black that meets manufacturer specifications are at present small compared to the total carbon black market. They also noted that the current specifications for recovered carbon black rule out its use as a replacement for all types of virgin carbon black. Bridgestone and Michelin nevertheless believe that continued development in the realm of recycling technology could lead to a drastic increase in demand for recovered carbon black as well as a market for recovered carbon black of up to 1 million tonnes annually in 2030.

Bridgestone and Michelin’s rCB grades and specifications proposal presentation can be read here.