HANOVER, Germany — Continental A.G. and waste tire pyrolysis company Pyrolyx A.G. have signed a five-year contract for Pyrolyx to supply Conti with recovered carbon black (rCB) for use in tire production.
The deal calls for Pyrolyx to deliver up to 10,000 metric tons of rCB a year to Continental's tire plants worldwide, the companies said in a joint statement.
At full capacity, the agreement would represent the recovery of over 3 million end-of-life tires with a resultant drop in annual CO2 emissions of more than 25,000 tons, compared with using traditional carbon black, Pyrolyx said.
"The supply agreement will support Pyrolyx's growth with additional manufacturing facilities in North America and eastern Europe, and specifically details sales over the next three years rising to 10ktpa," the companies said.
"This long-term relationship with Pyrolyx underlines our commitment to improving the sustainability of our products and operations," Andreas Topp, vice president, material and process development and industrialization, for Continental, said.
"We are committed to innovative, environmentally beneficial technologies for our customers, while ensuring our tires meet the highest levels of safety performance," he added.
The agreement, Pyrolyx USA CEO Thomas Redd said, is an "extremely positive development for Pyrolyx and validates our approach to the recovery of carbon black from end-of-life tires and the acceptance of rCB globally."
Pyrolyx and Conti signed the letter of intent for such an agreement earlier this year.
At the time, the two companies said the rCB would be supplied initially both from Pyrolyx's existing plant in Stegelitz, Germany, and its U.S. plant in Terre Haute, Ind., which recently underwent "cold commissioning" in preparation for its full-scale commercial start-up.
The supply deal also requires the development of additional Pyrolyx manufacturing capacity in eastern Europe, which is expected to be operational by late 2021.
Separately, Pyrolyx said it has completed the purchase of J&R Used Tire Service Inc., whose assets include a permitted scrap tire-processing facility in Newport, Ind., about 28 miles north of Pyrolyx's facility in Terre Haute.
The deal will help secure the supply of waste tires to both the existing and additional capacities at Terre Haute, Pyrolyx said.
The asset purchase price was $4.04 million.