Taiwanese firm CSRC Group, together Taiwanese compatriot Sheico Group, are teaming up to set up a tyre recycling plant in Phoenix City, Alabama, that will use pyrolysis technology to produce recovered carbon black (rCB).
CSRC will partner with Eco Infinic Co, a Thailand-based subsidiary of Sheico, to set up the business at a site in Alabama, formerly operated by the Houston-based Continental Carbon Co. (CCC). It will be 65% owned by Eco Infinic, with CSRC and CCC jointly holding the remaining 35%.
Production at the reconfigured plant is scheduled to start some time in 2026, and CRSC bills it as being designed “to become one of the largest rCB plants in North America.”
The site will have an annual capacity to recover 30,000 tonnes of rCB, 35,000 tonnes of tyre pyrolysis oil (TPO), and 2,300 tonnes of steel wire.
CSRC says it is banking on the notion that “in the foreseeable future, major manufacturers will actively increase the proportion of rCB used in tires.”
The firm points to global tyre producers Michelin and Bridgestone as having declared within their carbon neutrality frameworks that 40% of the materials used in tyres will be sustainable by 2030, with the goal of reaching 100$ by 2050. “They have also initiated actions calling for the expanded use of recovered carbon black,” says CSRC.
Currently, says the Taiwanese firm, the capacity to produce rCB that meets the specifications of tyre producers “is too limited.”
Of the carbon black materials now used in global new tyre production, less than 1% comes from recycled tyres, according to CSRC.
The company also adds that US being one of the major producers and consumers of rCB, has already made significant investments in recycling facilities and advanced pyrolysis technology, emphasising that “it as an important market that cannot be overlooked”.
CSRC says that Sheico “has been significantly involved in the rubber and rCB production processes through its subsidiary in Thailand for many years, and that the Thai government recognises this initiative as a model project for the circular economy, with a processing capacity of 35,000 tonnes of scrap tyres/year that is still expanding.”
CSRC also bills Sheico as “among the few companies internationally that possess the capability for mass production of rCB at a high quality.”
Continues the company, “The establishment of this joint venture not only aims to jointly enter the US rCB market, but also helps clients reduce carbon emissions and resource consumption, achieving the goal of carbon neutrality across the industrial chain.”
The performance of CSRC’s own rCB “is close to virgin carbon black, and it has already been adopted by China-based tyre manufacturer Cheng Shin for use in bicycle tyres,” according to the firm.
CSRC says it also has deployed technology that has allowed it to produce “eco-circular carbon black for use in the printing and coatings sectors, including some major electronics manufacturers.”