Lawrence Industries Are The Official UK Distributor of Recovered Carbon Black

Virgin carbon black, produced from finite fossil fuel resources, is widely used as a pigment in plastics, paints, printing inks and coatings. It also offers electrical conductivity, UV protection, increasing resistance to thermal degradation, and can be used as a reinforcing filler in rubber.

Sustainable innovation and greener manufacturing are becoming increasingly important, driven by consumer demand and legislation such as the plastic packaging tax. As the demand for carbon black surges, it is important to reflect on its environmental impact and look for more sustainable solutions.

Typically, the production of carbon black requires high process temperatures of 1200-1900°C, using high amounts of energy and releasing sulphur and nitrogen oxide emissions, associated with environmental and human health concerns. The production of 1 tonne of virgin carbon black generates 2.5-3 tonnes of CO2. However, recovered carbon black (rCB), developed by Waverly Carbon, is a novel product which can be used as a more environmentally friendly alternative to virgin carbon black.

Recovered carbon black (rCB) is sourced from end-of-life tyres, getting value out of the 1.5 billion tyres that enter the waste stream annually. Using end-of-life tyres reduces CO2 emissions and is an example of a circular economy approach. Further, using rCB contributes towards the 30% of recycled material needed to avoid the UK plastic tax. There are safety and regulatory benefits of using rCB, as PAH’s (restricted by the EU) are destroyed during the pyrolysis process during manufacture.

Production of rCB uses lower temperatures than the furnace process used to produce virgin carbon black. Thermal components of the tyre are broken down by pyrolysis, producing tyre pyrolysis oil (which is often used for industrial energy production or can be refined further) and char. The char then needs refining to produce high quality rCB. During the refinement process the material goes through a variety of magnet systems and sieving operations including devolatisation, milling and optional pelleting to remove any contaminants. The quality of the char, influenced by the type of tyre used, is important to ensure high quality rCB is made.

Waverly Carbon, the UK’s only manufacturer of recovered carbon black, has developed rCB in pelleted form which closely matches the characteristics of pelleted virgin carbon black. Lawrence Industries is the official UK distributor for Waverly Carbon and rCB.

You can read more about rCB on Lawrence Industries’ website here.