There's a "Green" Version of Carbon Black? An Old Tire Will Tell You The Answer!

Hidden Beneath The Black Exterior of The Wheels Beneath Your Feet is a Crucial Material.

Carbon black is an essential high-strength filler in tires—without it, tire wear resistance and tear resistance would be significantly reduced. Globally, approximately 85% of carbon black is used in the rubber industry, with 70% of that used in the tire industry.

However, the production of traditional carbon black is not "green." It is usually made from fossil raw materials such as coal tar and ethylene tar, and the production of 1 ton of carbon black emits about 2.5 to 3.2 tons of carbon dioxide. The greenhouse gas emissions of the carbon black manufacturing industry in Europe account for 3.4% of the total emissions of the entire chemical industry. This is the "carbon burden" of carbon black.

Pyrolysis Provides a Way to "Recycle" Carbon Black.

Waste tires can be "disassembled" into pyrolysis oil, combustible gas, steel wire, and coarse carbon black through anaerobic pyrolysis at 500-700℃. A single tire can produce approximately 3.5 kg of recycled carbon black (rCB).

Recycled carbon black (rCB) can directly replace virgin carbon black in new tire manufacturing. Compared to traditional carbon black manufacturing processes, each ton of rCB directly and indirectly eliminates 3.1 tons of carbon dioxide emissions. In tire manufacturing, using recycled carbon black can reduce carbon emissions by up to 80% compared to virgin materials.

There is An Even More "Advanced" Path: Sustainable Carbon Black (sCB).

Besides direct recycling, pyrolysis oil (TPO) from the pyrolysis of waste tires can also be used as a raw material in carbon black reactors to replace fossil fuels such as coal tar, producing sustainable carbon black (sCB). sCB is equivalent to traditional ATSM carbon black in terms of particle size, structure, and purity. Replacing fossil-based oils with TPO can reduce the carbon footprint over its entire life cycle by 60% to 90%.

The "Greening" of Carbon Black is Just The Beginning.

The global recycled carbon black market was valued at US$218.8 million in 2025 and is projected to reach US$3.5453 billion by 2034, representing a compound annual growth rate of 36.2%. A waste tire pyrolysis consulting firm predicts that annual rCB production will exceed 500,000 tons within 3 to 5 years.

From "black pollution" to "green pollution," carbon black is undergoing a quiet green revolution—and every new tire under your wheels may become a witness to this revolution.