Bridgestone, Michelin lobby for better tire 'ecosystem'

AMSTERDAM — Michelin Group and Bridgestone Corp. are set to issue a joint call to advance sustainable solutions for end-of-life tires (ELTs), including the increased use of recovered carbon black in the production of new tires.

The world's two largest tire makers will deliver a joint keynote presentation on "sustainable ecosystems" for ELTs during the Recovered Carbon Black Conference 2021, an event organized by Smithers Group Inc. and scheduled for Nov. 22-23 in Amsterdam.

Jake Ronsholt, vice president, strategy and transformation, Europe/Middle East/India/Africa, Bridgestone, and Sander Vermeulen, vice president, ELT products and recycling business at Michelin, will explore how the tire industry can align more effectively across a diverse group of global stakeholders towards achieving a circular economy for tires.

"Ecosystems are the future of tire recycling as they enable an environment for talking and collaboration," according to independent industry consultant Martin von Wolfersdorff, who will be opening the event.

In an "ecosystem," Mr. von Wolfersdorff said, "there are no competitors but only partners, and that is what the industry needs today."

Bridgestone and Michelin will, therefore, outline how tire companies can work together to increase the use of recovered carbon black and other recycled materials produced via ELT pyrolysis.

Along with other major tire makers, both companies have ramped up their sustainability efforts in recent years to target 100% sustainable materials by 2050.

Bridgestone estimates 1 billion tires reach the end of their useful service life every year around the globe, providing a potentially huge but largely untapped source of recoverable raw materials.

While many of the technical challenges surrounding the use of recycled and recovered materials from end-of-life tires are understood, the Japanese tire maker said, barriers remain towards achieving material circularity at the scale necessary to realize a more sustainable mobility ecosystem.

Today, less than 1% of all carbon black material used globally in new tire production comes from recycled end-of-life tires, Bridgestone said, due to a weak supply pipeline for the recovery and reuse of carbon black.

Recovered carbon black presents the opportunity to reduce the tire industry's reliance on petrochemicals by replacing a portion of traditional carbon black with a sustainable and circular alternative without introducing performance trade offs. Additionally, using recovered carbon black in new tire production reduces CO2 emissions by up to 85% compared with virgin materials.

"For years discussions have been ongoing about the different constraints and hurdles that were preventing the rubber industry to adopt recycled and or recovered raw materials in significant quantities," Mr. Vermeulen said.

"We felt it was the time to stop discussing and actively contribute to finding solutions that would enable the rubber industry as a whole to become more circular by increasing its ability to adopt recycled and or recovered materials from end-of-life tires. I am delighted that we found a partner in Bridgestone that shares our vision, and together we invite stakeholders across the tire and rubber value chain to participate in the journey toward material circularity."