Forging
Circularity
Circular thinking guides our approach to innovation as we respond to a growing demand for sustainability. We quantify our environmental impact throughout the life cycle of our products, from raw material extraction to end of life. Leading the way for the industry, we have achieved circularity at scale with our Continua™ SCM offering.
Circular thinking guides our approach to innovation as we respond to a growing demand for sustainability. We quantify our environmental impact throughout the life cycle of our products, from raw material extraction to end of life. Leading the way for the industry, we have achieved circularity at scale with our Continua™ SCM offering.
From creation to Continua™ SCM –
giving carbon black a new life
We have launched Continua™ SCM, providing a sustainable solution at scale for our customers.
Through this, we enable circularity at scale by providing sustainable solutions for tires, mechanical rubber goods and plastics. This Sustainable Carbonaceous Material (SCM) gives our customers performance-enhancing qualities and enhanced sustainability.
The Continua™ SCM offering is the result of our commitment to sustainable product development.
Our Continua™ SCM offering is the outcome of our research and development process, marking a milestone in our sustainability journey.
To Share the Strength of our Continua™ SCM, we are inviting our stakeholders to further explore the possibilities of this new class of materials.
End-of-life tires are processed into materials with real value
With our partner, Circtec, Birla Carbon actively participates in a more sustainable system. As the end-of-life tires are repurposed, steel is recovered, renewable fuels are generated and SCMs are produced to re-enter the economy.
Circtec has started the construction of their new facility in The Netherlands, set to be the most efficient and sustainable pyrolysis plant in Europe. The facility will be the largest single source of SCMs and renewable fuels using of end-of-life tires. A comprehensive Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) – conducted according to ISO 14040 and ISO 14044 standards – demonstrates that at full capacity, 73,000 tonnes of Continua™ SCM it would eliminate 228,000 tonnes of direct and indirect CO2 emissions annually when compared to the conventional carbon black process.
How we make carbon black circular
Informed by insights from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, we aim to design out waste and pollution and keep materials in use for longer.
We measure our progress against these guiding principles.
Keeping products in use for longer
Our carbon black creates added value for customers and their consumers, transferring many sustainable properties to countless products:
- Increased durability and strength
- Thermal insulation
- Electrical conductivity
- Improved UV protection
- Lower rolling resistance
Circularity in our production of carbon black
We conduct regular LCAs to quantify our circularity efforts. Through this approach, we evaluate our environmental impacts from raw material extraction to product end-of-life.
Circularity leads our daily operations through:
Starting life from waste
Our carbon black product has always aligned with circular principles. It starts life from a low-value, carbon-rich oil residue with limited usage, becoming carbon black with real value. Giving someone else’s waste a second life drives our research and development efforts as we work to extend the lifespan of our product.
Watch our video to learn more about how carbon black is made.
Watch our video to see how carbon black enables our everyday lives
