Sustainable Development Goals
PROJECT INFORMATION AT A GLANCE:
Project Status:
OPERATIONAL | Completed 2020
Organizations Involved:
Klean Industries, MCL Carbons, multiple tire pyrolysis firms
Services / Equipment:
Design & Engineering, Due Diligence, Packaged Solutions, Component Supply
India’s tire-pyrolysis industry already generated carbon-rich char. The commercial challenge was producing a consistent, usable carbon-black product from it. Working with MCL Carbons and other tire-pyrolysis firms, we brought an integrated upgrading pathway that connects existing char supply with the specifications demanded by rubber, plastics, pigment and coating customers.
The value is not simply another piece of equipment. It is the ability to transform a low-value output into a material with a defined market, while helping existing recyclers capture more of the value of every tire processed.
Pyrolysis produces a crude carbonaceous char. Its residual ash, contaminants, particle-size variability and handling characteristics can make it unsuitable for applications demanding controlled carbon-black performance. Selling that material as if it were ready-to-use recovered carbon black can undermine both prices and customer confidence.
For Indian operators, a stand-alone pyrolysis reactor did not automatically create a credible path into tire, rubber or pigment supply chains. Manufacturers evaluate materials through specifications, formulation trials and repeatable delivery, not by the fact that the input originated from recycled tires. This created an opportunity for downstream equipment and application expertise.
Our contribution involved engineered char-upgrading systems integrating material preparation, separation, controlled particle processing and downstream finishing. Depending on feedstock and product targets, the wider we equipment offering includes homogenization, milling, classification, pelletizing, drying and packaging. Specific process settings and proprietary arrangements remain within technical engagement.
The MCL initiative brought together Klean Industries, MCL Carbons and multiple tire-pyrolysis firms, allowing locally sourced char to be treated as an industrial feedstock rather than a disposal burden. The project’s published account describes the production of consistent, specification-oriented rCB intended for manufacturers requiring predictable performance.
Crucially, rCB is not interchangeable with every grade of virgin carbon black. The appropriate degree of substitution is determined by a customer’s formulation and test results. Our commercial approach connects the equipment design to the intended application and buyer qualification, rather than promising one universal grade for all markets.
The project page records the India MCL initiative as operational and completed in 2020. Its significance is the link between multiple local char producers, a dedicated upgrading route and industrial uses in tire, rubber, plastics, coatings and pigments. The public page does not disclose MCL-specific tonnage, product-test values or contracts, so those figures have not been invented here.
Our wider India delivery record puts that capability into commercial perspective. In an October 2019 announcement, we reported three rCB upgrading facilities installed in India, with a non-binding letter of intent for five additional facilities, eight in total. The three installed facilities demonstrate deployment experience; the five letter-of-intent facilities show market interest, not completed installations. Read Klean’s India rCB equipment expansion announcement >> GO.
This combination of plant engineering and product-market development is what makes the model commercially relevant. An existing pyrolysis operation can pursue a more valuable output without confusing raw char with an approved industrial carbon-black grade. Producers gain a route to upgraded product; buyers gain a potential domestic source that can be qualified against their specific application requirements.
1. The value uplift occurs downstream.
India already had tire-pyrolysis char; our upgrading systems addressed the gap between that material and a specification-led carbon product.
2. There is a documented deployment track record.
Three rCB upgrading facilities installed in India, with a non-binding letter of intent for five more — eight in total.
3. Market access is a technical discipline.
Repeatable product characteristics, application testing and buyer relationships matter as much as processing capacity when developing a viable rCB project.
These are selected achievements and lessons. Further technical and commercial insights are available through a project-specific engagement with Klean.
If your tire-pyrolysis operation produces char without a clearly qualified customer, the next investment decision should focus on the desired end product — not simply a larger reactor or a higher nominal throughput. We can help define the feedstock characteristics, processing line, achievable product targets and commercial pathway.
For new equipment developments, the paid Detailed Equipment Quotation (DEQ) develops a preliminary equipment configuration, CAPEX/OPEX and financial basis, followed by a Detailed Feasibility Study (DFS) and Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) as the project advances. Existing-plant improvement and buyer-qualification work may be scoped separately.
Discuss Your Recovered Carbon Black Project with Klean >> GO.
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ABOUT THE INFORMATION PRESENTED
This case describes the MCL char-upgrading initiative and our separately reported Indian equipment-deployment history. Facility counts and expansion intentions relate to our historical announcement; application suitability depends on feedstock properties, processing conditions and customer qualification. Detailed product specifications and economics are addressed through an agreed engagement and appropriate confidentiality arrangements.
This project addresses the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by considering the goals and associated targets illustrated by the WBCSD’s Tire Industry Project (TIP). TIP provides a framework for action that outlines impactful pathways for the tire sector to contribute to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). To learn more about how our approach, solutions, and technologies contribute to advancing the SDGs, please review the report “Sustainability Driven: Accelerating Impact with the Tire Sector SDG Roadmap”.
