Tire-Derived Carbon Manufacturer Plans Expansion, ASTM Develops Recovered Carbon Black Standard

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Boulder BlackWaste to Energy Partners, which produces a product using waste tires that is an alternative to carbon black, is changing its name and next month will open a new production facility.

The company’s new name is Bolder Industries, a nod to its flagship product, Bolder Black, which can be used as a substitute for carbon black, an oil-derived component used in nearly all rubber and black plastic products.

In a statement, Bolder Industries says the new name will “emphasize its core mission of converting solid waste from traditional disposal methods into energy-rich materials and valuable products, thereby diverting significant amounts of waste from overtaxed landfills.”

Next month, the company plans to open a first-of-its-kind facility, Maryville Carbon Solutions (MCS) in Maryville, Missouri. The facility will recycle scrap tires and be the largest global commercial producer of the Bolder Industries’ tire-derived carbon.

In addition to diverting nearly 50 million pounds of waste from entering landfills each year, the facility will be a net energy positive facility. It will emit 90 percent less CO2 and using 90 percent less water that traditional methods to process 1 million waste tires and produce 7 million pounds of Bolder Black by the end of the year, the company says.

Bolder Industries’ news comes as ASTM International has approved a new technical committee that will develop standards for the growing field of recovered carbon black, which includes tire-derived carbon.

The Committee on Recovered Carbon Black (D36) will focus on creating and updating standards in areas such as the decomposition of scrap tires, other scrap-rubber components, sustainability and material characterization. It was formed from members of the organization’s existing Committee on Carbon Black (D24) and other experts who saw a growing portfolio of standards work related to recycling carbon-black products.

The committee will host its first meeting on March 27 in Brussels, Belgium, in conjunction with the annual conference of the European Tyre Recycling Association. Initial major tasks of the committee include revising and adopting several standards currently under the jurisdiction of D24.

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