To meet growing demand for mining tyre recycling and recycled rubber products, specifically carbon black and rCB, Kal Tire’s Mining Tire Group and Mitsui & Co. have entered into a joint venture commercialise the Kal Tire thermal conversion recycling facility in Chile from early 2023. Activities there will act as a “foundation” as the venture pursues “opportunities to bring OTR tyre recycling solutions to mining regions around the world.”
Anyone wanting to learn more about carbon black and its many applications can now do so at the new Birla Carbon virtual showroom. Claimed as an industry first, the site offers a virtual reality experience that takes viewers through the intricate uses of each part of a car and employs an immersive experience to showcase how carbon black can make a difference to the solutions it is part of. Birla Carbon aims for the virtual showroom to be a “one-stop shop experience for the entire value chain of carbon black solutions.”
During the recent Tire Cologne event, Tyres & Accessories met with Hankook Europe’s top management including president and chief operating officer Sanghoon Lee; Dietmar Olbrich, vice president of marketing and sales at Hankook Germany; Byung Ryong Lee, vice president of marketing strategy in Europe; Guy Heywood, vice president sales, marketing and business strategy for truck and bus tyres in Europe; vice president of European Technical Centre, Klaus Krause; Massimo Cialone, chief specialist for compounding and materials.
Birla Carbon has been awarded a Platinum level rating by EcoVadis for sustainability. This recognition confirms Birla Carbon’s position as an industry leader in advanced sustainability practices and reporting and places it in the top 1 per cent of companies rated by EcoVadis. The rating was provided after reviewing Birla Carbon’s sustainability practices in its recently published ninth sustainability report, Driving Circularity.
Carlton Forest reports that it has begun a cold testing phase at what it refers to as “the UK’s first continuous pyrolysis plant” located at the company’s Worksop site. That announcement, which was published on 13 May 2022, will be followed by “full operation launch” later in May.
Michelin has produced a new version of its motorcycle racing tyre with an even higher share of environmentally sustainable material ahead of the MotoE World Cup motorcycle racing series. This is the fourth season of the MotoE World Cup electric motorcycles racing series.
Michelin Group has reported that its first quarter 2022 sales amounted to 6.5 billion euros, a 19 per cent increase on the first quarter of 2021. According to the company, price increases and strengthening replacement demand helped it offset headwinds including operation disruptions and inflationary pressures exacerbated by the conflict in Ukraine plus the resurgence of Covid-19 in China.
With its acquisition of Trinseo’s rubber production plants in Schkopau, Germany late last year, Polish firm Synthos has also taken on the minority stake in Swiss start-up Tyre Recycling Solutions (TRS) that Trinseo held. It reports that its collaboration with TRS is now “progressing according to plan.”
Following the fire that destroyed its first pilot plant in February 2019 and hurled the company into operational and financial difficulties, in May 2021 Black Bear Carbon announced plans to build a new flagship plant within the Chemelot Industrial Park in Limburg, the Netherlands. The company took a further step towards realising its plan on 23 March when visiting the Chemelot site with potential investor NEOS Direct Lending.
At the start of the year this column predicted a positive 2022 for the tyre business on the basis that we are better prepared for the unknown because of the adaptions made during the last few pandemic years. I still believe that. But my thesis is being tested by the implications of the now month-long war in Ukraine. All our expectations are being tested. For example, never before have I received an email which switches from normal editorial matters to “our country has been invaded” from one line to the next.
Tyre recycling and product recovery specialists Scandinavian Enviro Systems (Enviro) is has noted “a sharp increase of interest in purchasing the carbon black and oil that Enviro recovers from end-of-life tyres” since the Russian invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022. Interest has been observed “among old and new customers”, but the company has not commented on what this means in terms of specific orders.
Russia’s attack on Ukraine is now impacting Europe’s leading economies and specifically Germany. For those producing tyres, hoses, seals or health protection products, the situation is particularly series due to the duel effects of tight carbon black supplies and rising energy and specifically gas costs. “Carbon black is an indispensable material for production and so far more than a third comes from Russia,” explained Boris Engelhardt, general manager of the German Rubber Industry Association (WdK) in Frankfurt am Main, according to our sister publication reifenpresse.de.
Continental AG has signed a development agreement with tyre pyrolysis firm Pyrum Innovations. Continental has held “a strategic minority stake” in Pyrum since its IPO in 2021. The new deal means, among other things, high-quality recovered carbon black (rCB) is to be obtained for Continental’s tyre production. Continental’s subsidiary, Reifen-Entsorgungsgesellschaft (REG), will begin supplying end-of-life tyres from the premium manufacturer to Pyrum this month. In the long term, the aim is to establish a circular economy concept for the recycling of end-of-life tyres.
During the first week of March, Wastefront announced it has entered a strategic partnership with electric vehicle tyre-focused tyre brand Enso. The deal will see Enso incorporate Wastefront’s recycled carbon black (rCB) in its tyres from 2024. Wastefront will also provide UK-based Enso with a recycling outlet for its used tyres, as part of its Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR).
Sustainability has risen to become the leading mobility trend over the last few years, and the drive towards greater levels has permeated every major corner of the tyre business. While the focus of pro-environment efforts in the tyre business has often fallen to the tyre recovery sector, developing a Circular Economy necessitates a more holistic industrial input, from raw materials suppliers to manufacturers, from the environmental effects of the tyres in use to the material and energy it is possible to recover from end-of-life tyres. Recognising the fundamental place this theme has in our industry, this month Tyres & Accessories presents the latest news and analysis in the sustainability space, beginning with a general overview of developments in the recycling sector from the British Tyre Manufacturers Association (BTMA)’s perspective.
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Carlton Forest
Michelin
Michelin; Jefferies
Enviro
Continental
Enso
Ellie Burgin; Pexels