Ahead of this year's Recovered Carbon Black Asia 2024, we spoke with Celso Magri, Global Marketing and Sustainability Director Rubber at Orion Engineered Carbons GmbH, to get a sneak peek of what we can expect from his presentation on 'Tire pyrolysis is the only validated technology to enable the tire circular economy' Here's what he had to say…




Q1 Your presentation at the inaugural Recovered Carbon Black Asia will cover Tire pyrolysis is the only validated technology to enable the tire circular economy. Why is it important for others in the industry to hear this message?

Pyrolysis needs a lot of investment to grow. Investors will only invest significant amounts of money if the technology is validated. Orion is globally the number one producer of carbon black for specialty applications and the first major carbon black producer to produce carbon black with 100% tire pyrolysis oil. Those products have been validated by tire customers as equivalent to conventional carbon blacks. No other technology today has been validated as such.

Q2 What are the main challenges in your day-to-day work relating to sustainability in tires/recovered carbon black/tire pyrolysis?

The industry is not yet mature. There are no established quality standards, production is very small, many projects are not moving or delayed, there are no harmonized regulations for treatment of end of life tires, no established pricing mechanisms. It is very difficult for a global customer to approve products that are available in small quantities, and one in one region.

Q3 What are some of the biggest opportunities gaining attention within the recovered Carbon Black industry?

For pyrolysis companies, surely a big opportunity is to work with the carbon black industry to move this industry forward with standardization.

Q4 What do you think will be some of the most interesting advancements in recovered carbon black/tire pyrolysis in the near future?

Cooperation with the carbon black industry to get it integrated into the tire value chain with standardization and scale.

Q5 What are the challenges the tire pyrolysis value chain has to overcome in the next few years?

The major challenge is to move from a start-up industry to an industry fully integrated with the tire value chain, with standards and scale.

Q6 What collaborations in/with the value chain are you seeking?

We are established suppliers to several industries globally. We need reliable suppliers of tire pyrolysis oils with an option to collaborate in application development for recovered carbon black.