China's Longxing starts volume supply of sustainable carbon black to European tire maker

Beijing – China's Longxing Technology Group has started volume shipments of sustainable carbon black produced from waste tire pyrolysis oil after securing approval from “a major European tire manufacturer”, the company announced 23 July.

According to Longxing, initial orders total nearly 10 kilotonnes, marking the company's first bulk supply of sustainable carbon black to an international tire producer.

The company added that it has also agreed development programmes for sustainable carbon black with other major European tire manufacturers, with customer qualification work continuing.

Longxing said the project forms part of its strategy to develop circular economy technologies.

The supplier began research into producing carbon black from waste tire pyrolysis oil (TPO) in 2024, completed development of its SC-series products in 2025.

The environmental approval for the production project was granted in December last year, Longxing added.

Unlike recovered carbon black (rCB), which is produced directly from tire pyrolysis, Longxing's sustainable carbon black uses pyrolysis oil generated from end-of-life tires to replace some or all coal tar feedstock in carbon black production.

Longxing described the technology as “"the most promising and certain" route to lower-carbon carbon black production.

The process, it said, offers 'improved economics' over conventional carbon black while supporting circularity and decarbonisation goals.

Following approval by the European tire maker, Longxing said it is accelerating product sampling and certification with additional customers.

Longxing said it is planning capacity expansion for the business, with investments to be phased in based on customer demand and order volumes.

The company cautioned that future expansion remains subject to market conditions, downstream demand and industry policy developments.

Related story: Longxing Chemical starts production at €400m carbon black plant