Bridgestone Corporation and Michelin Group jointly will deliver a shared perspective regarding material circularity and the ambition to increase the utilization of recovered carbon black material in tires. The joint presentation will take place at the Smithers Recovered Carbon Black Conference in Amsterdam on November 22, 2021.
Also Read: Clarience Technologies Targeting Range Improvement of Commercial Electric Vehicles
An estimated one billion tires around the world reach the end of their useful service life every year. Many of the technical challenges surrounding the use of recycled and recovered materials from end-of-life tires are understood, but barriers remain towards achieving material circularity at the scale necessary to realize a more sustainable mobility ecosystem. Today, less than one percent of all carbon black material used globally in new tire production comes from recycled end-of-life tires due to a weak supply pipeline for the recovery and reuse of carbon black.
At the conference, the two companies will outline a path aimed at promoting and increasing the utilization of recovered carbon black in new tires and other rubber products. Collaboration with stakeholders across all aspects of the tire and rubber industry value chain will be needed to deliver this goal. As such, Michelin and Bridgestone seek to establish a coalition of a diverse group of stakeholders, including tire manufacturers, carbon black suppliers, pyrolysis partners and emerging technology startups to accelerate progress and increase supply of recovered carbon black.
“Increasing use of recovered carbon black in tires is critical to achieving Bridgestone‘s vision for sustainable mobility,” said Jake Rønsholt, vice president of strategy and transformation, Bridgestone Europe, Middle East, India and Africa. “Together with Michelin and other stakeholders, we can generate critical momentum on this important initiative and advance our efforts to reduce CO2 emissions and manufacture products from fully renewable and sustainable materials.”