Orion Engineered Carbons , a global supplier of carbon black, a solid form of carbon produced as powder or pellets, has reached what it refers to as ‘a major sustainability milestone’. The company has become the first to achieve ISCC Plus certification for carbon black grades made from different feedstocks at plants in two regions of the world.
The certification was granted following several rigorous audits of Orion’s plants and processes to confirm the company’s compliance with all requirements. These also verified the transparency and traceability of sustainable raw materials in the company’s value chain at three plants producing the relevant grades of carbon black.
Orion earns ISCC PLUS certification for multiple carbon black grades
Corning Painter
The products include the Ecorax Circular grades produced in Borger, Texas, and Belpre, Ohio, using pyrolysis oils from end-of-life tires, as well as the Ecorax Nature 200 grades produced in Jaslo, Poland, and based on bio-circular feedstocks.
“Earning the certification is a major achievement for the commercialisation of our portfolio of sustainable products,” said Corning Painter, Orion’s CEO. It sends a strong signal to all customers that Orion continues to make progress with innovation focused on sustainability, he added.
The certified products are “drop-ins” that require minimal reformulation in the complex rubber compounds used by the company’s major tire manufacturing customers.
“Introducing a broad range of products that can be used in highly demanding tire applications using such materials is a critical step to enable the transition to a circular economy for tires,” Painted said.
A decade ago, Orion was the first major producer to develop and commercialise carbon black made from renewable feedstocks, such as industrial-grade vegetable oils or other oils derived from waste and residues of biological origin from agriculture or forestry.
Orion is also the only carbon black producer in the BlackCycle initiative, an EU-funded project focused on developing the production of circular carbon black.
Carbon black makes up about 30% of a typical tire by weight. The material reinforces tires, making treads more resistant to tearing, cutting, abrasion and other wear. Carbon black also plays an important role in creating tires with lower rolling resistance, which leads to increased fuel efficiency. It also enables engineers to fine tune performance and protects tires from the damaging effects of UV light.