Birla Carbon adds dedicated line for Continua SCM at carbon black plant in Italy

Birla Carbon recently announced a new new production line at its carbon black facility in Trecate, Italy. This dedicated line will serve the purpose of finishing and packing of Continua Sustainable Carbonaceous Material (SCM), a circular material derived from end-of-life tires. With this launch, high-quality and consistent Continua SCM will be available in large volumes. The announcement follows the recent inauguration of phase one of Circtec's new tire recycling facility in the Netherlands, which produces Continua SCM for Birla in Europe.

In a press release announcing the new line, John Loudermilk, President and CEO, Birla Carbon, said, "This is a pivotal moment for Birla Carbon. Continua SCM represents the most consistent, high-quality, circular material in the carbon black industry today and replaces a portion of carbon black in most rubber and non-rubber applications. It also reflects cross-industry collaboration for sustainability, with raw material sourced from our partner Circtec's newly launched tire pyrolysis facility in the Netherlands, and finished and packed at our state-of-the-art processing line in Trecate." He added, "The launch of this line is a key milestone in our ambition to put back into industry 300,000 tons of end-of-life tires annually by 2030, contributing to our aspiration to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050."

According to Birla, benefits of Continua SCM include:

• Supply security with large volumes and additional functional benefits

• Blending possibilities for optimum solutions

• Increased recycled content

• Lower homologation costs

• Consistent quality with regulatory compliance