Conti, Pyrolyx enter five-year recycled carbon black deal

Hanover, Germany – Continental Corp. and waste tire pyrolysis company Pyrolyx AG have announced a five-year contract for the supply of recovered carbon black (rCB) to the German tire maker.

Pyrolyx is to deliver up to 10 kilotonnes per annum (kt) of rCB a year to Continental’s tire manufacturing facilities worldwide, the companies said in an 11 Nov announcement.

Under the agreement, Pyrolyx expects to absorb over 3 million end-of-life tires and to reduce annual CO2 emissions by more than 25kt compared to using traditional carbon black.

"The supply agreement will support Pyrolyx’s growth with additional manufacturing facilities in North America and eastern Europe, and specifically details sales over the next three years rising to 10ktpa," according to the statement.

“This long-term relationship with Pyrolyx underlines our commitment to improving the sustainability of our products and operations,” said Dr. Andreas Topp, VP material and process development and industrialisation at Continental.

The agreement, said Pyrolyx USA CEO Thomas Redd, was “an extremely positive development for Pyrolyx and validates our approach to the recovery of carbon black from end-of-life tires and the acceptance of rCB globally.”

Pyrolyx and Conti signed the letter of intent for such an agreement earlier this year.

At the time, the two companies said the rCB would be initially supplied both from Pyrolyx’s existing plant in Stegelitz, Germany and its plant in Terre Haute, Indiana, US.

The supply deal also requires the development of additional Pyrolyx manufacturing capacity in eastern Europe, which is expected to be operational by late 2021.