Bridgestone Corporation and Michelin Group have published a joint technical white paper to share the results of their work with stakeholders in the recycled carbon black (rCB) community to develop a proposed global standard to increase the utilization of recovered carbon black material in tires.

In 2022, the two companies released a position paper focused on the joint initiative to increase the use of recovered carbon black. The position paper outlined the reasoning behind this important call to action and the goals that Bridgestone and Michelin plan to achieve through this collaboration.

Bridgestone and Michelin say they collaborated with rCB suppliers and other stakeholders in the value chain to define initial proposals for standards, including grades, specifications, and awareness of quality and performance requirements for the tire industry. The two companies have produced a set of definitions, proposed specifications, and guidelines for regulatory requirements, as well as a foundation for supporting the growth of the rCB industry.

Globally, one billion tires, representing around 30 million tons of material, are estimated to reach the end of their useful service life every year. Many of the technical challenges surrounding the use of recycled and recovered materials from end-of-life tires are understood, but there remain significant market barriers to achieving material circularity at the scale necessary to realize material circularity in tires. Today, fewer than 1% of all carbon black material used globally in new tire production comes from recycled end-of-life tires, due to a sub-optimal supply chain for the recovery and reuse of carbon black.