6PPD Alternatives Face Scale-Up and Intellectual Property Hurdles
6PPD Alternatives
As the tire industry moves closer to finding a replacement for 6PPD, the anti-ozonant that keeps tires from cracking, the search for that alternative may turn out to be the easy part of a far more difficult journey from laboratory to production tire.
A Lethal Breakdown Product
6PPD produces a chemical offshoot known as 6PPD-quinone, which is lethal to certain salmonids including coho salmon at concentrations below 0.1 micrograms per litre. Ozone that would otherwise attack the rubber’s unsaturated bonds preferentially reacts with 6PPD, forming the quinone in the process — which means removing the additive without a suitable substitute risks tires that crack, disintegrate and fail more quickly.
A California Priority Product
In 2023 California’s Department of Toxic Substances Control listed tires containing 6PPD as a priority product under the state’s Safer Consumer Products Regulations. A consortium organised by the U.S. Tire Manufacturers Association and involving dozens of tire makers has evaluated more than 60 candidate alternatives, put 40 of them through detailed review, and expanded the shortlist of compounds under study from seven to 24, with its next alternatives-analysis report due to the state in October. The Washington state legislature has separately proposed a 2035 target for deploying a suitable replacement.
Scale-Up And Intellectual Property
Finding a candidate molecule is only the beginning. Commentary on the transition from microscope to macro-scale points to scale-up and intellectual property as key hurdles: a substitute that does not match 6PPD’s ozone-scavenging performance would trade tire safety and durability for non-toxicity, and any alternative must continue to meet federal safety standards. A molecule that clears the lab still has to surmount manufacturing and legal barriers before it can reach a production tire.
Circular Feedstock For The Tyre Industry
Whatever 6PPD alternative the industry lands on, tyres will still be made and retired at scale, and Klean Industries is positioned on the circular side through tire pyrolysis and recovered carbon black that replaces virgin carbon black in tyres, belts, hoses, plastics and inks. KBR has added Klean’s TyreNova technology to its IP portfolio, pairing Klean’s processes with KBR’s open-book, accountable delivery and guarantees.
Learn More:
Recycle Tyres Responsibly
Even as tyre chemistry evolves, recovered carbon black and tire pyrolysis keep end-of-life tyres in the loop.
Klean Industries, with KBR, delivers tire pyrolysis and recovered carbon black plants backed by open-book, guaranteed delivery.
Considering a tire recycling or recovered carbon black project?
You can return to the main Market News page, or press the Back button on your browser.
