BOULDER, Colo. — Carbon black supplier Continental Carbon Co. and tire recycling business Bolder Industries L.L.C. have agreed to work together to commercialize the production of "sustainable" carbon black products for the rubber and plastics industries.
Through a newly concluded partnership, the companies will launch a sustainable blend of Continental Carbon's carbon-black grades incorporating Bolder's recovered carbon black materials, BolderBlack.
A 3% blend industrywide of the material, according to Bolder, could reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 3 million metric tons, save 9 billion gallons of water and cut electric energy consumption by 1 billion-kWh a year.
Boulder-based Bolder Industries generates its recovered carbon black via pyrolysis at a facility in Maryville, Mo., where it's expanding processing capacity.
The partnership with Continental Carbon will allow Bolder to provide a "unique solution" to tire companies and industrial rubber goods manufacturers at a large scale, Bolder CEO Tony Wibbeler said.
"We have always believed in partnering with the traditional carbon black manufacturers to support the end customer," he said.
Continental Carbon President Dennis Hetu said the move is an "important step toward a more profitable and sustainable future for the rubber and plastics industry."
The collaboration allows Continental to offer soft-grade blends into "a marketplace that desperately needs to provide a closed-loop solution."
Bolder claims that incorporating its BolderBlack in a blend of N762 carbon black at 20% does not have any physical properties variation beyond the accepted measurement tolerance.
The collaboration will see the use of Bolder's carbon black alternatives in CCC's virgin grades N550, N650, N660, N762, and N774 and will provide customers pre-blended fillers customized at various ratios.
The blends will also offer customers with measurable environmental sustainability benefits, according to Bolder.
The company also announced in late October that it was merging with publicly traded company GigCapital2 and will as a result be listed on the New York Stock Exchange.
The merger, according to founder and CEO Tony Wibbeler, will provide the capital required to meet the demand created by the Continental Carbon partnership.