BOULDER, Colo. — Bolder Industries Inc., a self-proclaimed "pioneer" in "sustainable" carbon black, has struck a deal with Liberty Tire Recycling Inc. for Liberty to supply it with up to 60 million scrapped tires annually as feedstock for its carbon black recovery process.
The companies signed a partnership agreement recently to that effect, covering a 10-year period. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Founded in 2011, Boulder-based Bolder Industries has developed and scaled a proprietary process that recovers 98% of scrap tires by extracting high-quality petroleum-based ingredients and steel, which it uses to produce BolderBlack, a more sustainable alternative to virgin carbon black that sells for less than virgin black.
Bolder claims its process uses 90% less water and emits 90% less greenhouse gas.
The supply agreement calls for Liberty to use its capacity of end-of-life tires — it claims to collect 200 million tires a year through 25 sites — to supply Bolder with a steady, reliable source of feedstock for the next decade.
"Liberty Tire Recycling and Bolder Industries are here to provide full-scale opportunities to tire manufacturers who have committed to recycled content and sustainability goals," Bolder Industries CEO Tony Wibbeler said.
"Our circular approach (to tire recycling0 is what helps our customers meet their goals," he added, noting that it has formed offtake partnerships with Tokai Carbon, Continental Carbon and Tauber Oil "to provide a closed-loop solution for the end-of-life tires without supply-chain disruptions."
Bolder estimates this deal with Liberty represents the potential to generate up to 400 million pounds of BolderBlack, 1.8 million barrels of BolderOil and 100,000 tons of recycled steel, while reducing carbon dioxide emissions, water and electricity usage by more than 90%.
The CO2 reduction is equal to removing 300,000 cars from the road each year, Bolder said.
"Liberty is in constant pursuit of the highest and best use of end-of-life tires," Liberty Tire CEO Thomas Womble said.
"We have been investigating the chemical extraction business for many years and Bolder has proven to be a partner we can rely on to work with us and our customers on a large scale, Bolder and Liberty are aligned in their goals to increase sustainability for waste tires and our new partnership will accelerate the growth and global expansion for both companies in this critically important space."
Luiz Polimeno, global purchasing director of Pirelli Tire North America, added: "This is exactly the type of business innovation our industry needs. We can maintain our current collection routes, have insight into our end-of-life tires and have an opportunity to work directly with our current suppliers to purchase sustainably sourced raw materials for our manufacturing. It's a win-win for everyone involved."
Pittsburgh-based Liberty Tire Recycling was founded in 2000 and has grown into an operation with 25-plus scrap-tire processing plants and a nationwide collection network.
Energy Capital Partners (ECP), a Summit, N.J.-based equity firm, acquired Liberty Tire recently from Carlyle Group, which had been majority owner since 2017.