Four-Company Project Turns Scrap Tires Into New Feedstocks
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Pirelli, Pyrum, Synthos and BASF have launched a European tire-to-tire initiative designed to increase the use of recycled materials recovered from end-of-life and manufacturing-scrap tires.
Pyrum converts the tires through pyrolysis into recovered carbon black and tire-pyrolysis oil. The recovered carbon black is upgraded and returned directly to Pirelli’s European production, where it partially replaces virgin carbon black.
The tire-pyrolysis oil is supplied to BASF and co-fed with fossil-based feedstock into the production of chemical products including butadiene and styrene. A mass-balance approach attributes the recycled content to BASF’s ISCC PLUS-certified Ccycled® products.
Synthos then uses the circular materials to produce ISCC PLUS-certified synthetic rubber for high-performance tire applications. Pirelli incorporates the synthetic rubber into its production processes, completing the material loop.
According to the companies, the ISCC PLUS-certified system provides traceability across the value chain while allowing recovered materials to be incorporated into new tires without changing established quality and performance requirements.
Carbon black, styrene, butadiene and synthetic rubber are part of a wider raw-material ecosystem serving coatings, inks, adhesives and elastomers. The project shows how chemical recycling can connect multiple production steps through a coordinated industrial supply chain.
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