Birla starts sustainable carbon black finishing line in Italy

Trecate, Italy — Birla Carbon has started a new production line at its carbon black facility in Trecate, Italy, to ‘finish and pack’ waste tire-based carbon reinforcement materials branded as Continua sustainable carbonaceous material (SCM).

The new line is intended to support supply security and product consistency for Continua SCM, said Birla 6 Feb, noting that the product will now be available in “large volumes” across markets.

Raw material for the line will be supplied from Circtec’s recently inaugurated end-of-life pyrolysis facility in The Netherlands, with finishing and packing carried out at the Italian site.

“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,” said president and CEO John Loudermilk during the opening ceremony.

The product also reflects cross-industry collaboration for sustainability, with recovered carbon black (rCB) sourced from Circtec’s facility in Delfzijl, launched at the end of January.

Loudermilk added that the new line supports Birla Carbon’s stated ambition to return 300 kilotonnes of end-of-life tires annually to industrial use by 2030.

Continua SCM is offered in several grades, including Continua 8000 SCM, for use in tires, mechanical rubber goods and plastics, the company said.