Sustainable Development Goals
PROJECT INFORMATION AT A GLANCE:
Project Status:
Operating commercial reference
Organizations Involved:
Black Cat Carbon Engineering, CRR, CECEP
Services / Equipment:
Design and Engineering; Packaged Solutions
In 2021, Klean Industries and Black Cat Carbon Engineering (BCCE) achieved a breakthrough that expanded the commercial possibilities of tire recycling: converting recovered carbon black into high-purity graphite suitable for battery applications in electric mobility.
The value proposition is substantial. Our application-value comparison increases from US$1,500 per metric tonne for recovered carbon black to US$7,000 per metric tonne for recovered carbon graphite in basic battery applications. For advanced capacitor-based battery applications, we identified an estimated product value of US$20,000 per metric tonne.
This work connects tire recycling with a higher-value materials market. It demonstrates why the quality of recovered carbon, the upgrading process and the intended end use should be considered together when developing a recycling business. Our contribution is the know-how to connect those stages and create value beyond the initial pyrolysis products.
Recovered carbon black already has value as a material for rubber, plastics and other industrial applications. The BCCE collaboration took that opportunity further by developing an additional conversion process to produce high-purity graphite for energy storage.
Our work in China had already involved more than a decade of developing relationships with tire-feedstock partners, users of pyrolysis products and engineering firms. The BCCE program connected that project-development experience with advanced carbon processing and battery-material applications.
The result gives tire recyclers a broader commercial choice. Suitable recovered carbon can be sold into established rCB applications or processed further for a higher-value use. Selecting that route requires an understanding of both the incoming carbon and the product that the next customer needs. That is where our combined process and market knowledge becomes valuable.
The route begins with tire pyrolysis and the recovery of carbon-rich char. That char is processed into recovered carbon black, with the preparation and consistency required for its intended application. Suitably prepared rCB then enters the additional graphite-conversion process developed through the BCCE collaboration.
Pyrolysis char → prepared recovered carbon black → recovered carbon graphite.
Each stage serves a different purpose. Char upgrading develops a usable rCB product; graphite conversion creates a different carbon material for a more demanding application. Our 2021 achievement was the development of that further conversion route into high-purity graphite suitable for batteries.
For an existing pyrolysis operator, this distinction affects equipment selection and investment planning. The starting point is the carbon actually being produced, followed by the preparation and upgrading needed to reach the chosen product. We can connect those decisions across the full process, including the requirements of downstream users.
Our published BCCE comparison identifies three levels of product value:
| Material or Application | our Published Value Basis |
|---|---|
| Recovered carbon black | US$1,500 per metric tonne in the project comparison |
| Recovered carbon graphite for basic battery applications | US$7,000 per metric tonne in the project comparison |
| Recovered carbon graphite for advanced capacitor-based battery applications | Estimated US$20,000 per metric tonne |
The move from US$1,500 to US$7,000 represents approximately 4.7 times the product value per tonne. The commercial decision is how much of that higher value a particular project can capture after accounting for conversion yield, processing costs and the specification required by its buyer.
These figures are our application-specific comparison. They explain the reason for developing the technology: further processing can open a substantially higher-value market for suitable recovered carbon. Our role is to establish the process and commercial basis that makes that opportunity achievable for the individual project.
The BCCE project account describes a development supported by feedstock, offtake and a fully permitted site, co-located with a major carbon black manufacturer. That setting connects the recovery process with industrial infrastructure and customers for its products.
Our integration work also examined using recovered tire pyrolysis oil as carbon black oil blendstock, alongside the production of recovered carbon black and recovered carbon graphite. The objective is to develop useful outlets for several recovered streams within one industrial setting.
The project’s published approximate annual output figures illustrate that scale:
| Recovered Product | Published Annual Quantity |
|---|---|
| Recovered carbon graphite (rCG) | 17,000 tonnes |
| Recovered carbon black (rCB) | 10,000 tonnes |
| Carbon black oil blendstock (rFO) | 43,000 tonnes |
| Recovered steel (rSW) | 13,500 tonnes |
Our project account also identifies approximately 10 million tires recycled annually, an estimated 150,000 tonnes of annual CO₂ emissions avoidance, and hundreds of jobs. These are the published project-scale figures; individual operating periods and product specifications form part of the detailed project records.
For a developer, the commercial lesson is to consider the destination of each recovered stream when designing the plant. The graphite route adds another product opportunity to a business that also recovers oil, carbon black and steel.
The research extended to battery design. The associated design work enabled spent batteries to be recycled into new batteries, describing the result as 100% economic circularity by design. This relates to the battery system developed through the research and its intended recovery route.
That connection gives the project significance beyond the first sale of recovered graphite. The work links the recovery of carbon from an end-of-life tire with the production and subsequent recycling of an energy-storage product. It demonstrates the value of considering material recovery at the product-design stage.
The commercial case is sharpened by graphite’s supply side. China controls roughly 90% of the world’s graphite and, in October 2023, introduced export permit restrictions on the graphite products used in electric-vehicle batteries. Recovered carbon graphite provides a sustainable substitute that reduces reliance on mined and Chinese-controlled graphite, turning the BCCE route from a materials upgrade into a question of supply security. We are also exploring graphene output potential beyond graphite, extending the value ladder further.
The strategic significance of this study extends beyond graphite: it challenges the assumption that tire manufacturers will remain the natural destination for high-quality recovered carbon black — just as recovered tires find an industrial home in steelmaking at Klean’s Nippon Steel reference. The critical starting point is rCB quality, the consistency and suitability of this precursor underpin successful conversion into higher-value carbon products. The results and price points presented here are specific to this development; other projects will achieve different outcomes depending on feedstock quality, process design, product specifications and established customer demand.
As illustrated by the NSC model, where the industrial partner is itself a customer for the pyrolysis products, our approach connects production to a defined end use and customer relationship from the outset. If this pathway sustains its technical and commercial performance over the long term and is replicated at scale, we see the potential for substantial volumes of suitable rCB to move into graphite and other advanced carbon applications. That could leave tire manufacturers competing for a smaller available supply, placing upward pressure on prices and making access to high-quality rCB a strategic procurement priority. For producers and buyers alike, the opportunity lies in securing the right technology, product quality and customer relationships early.
1. We developed a further use for recovered carbon.
The 2021 BCCE breakthrough established a route from suitably prepared rCB to high-purity graphite for battery applications.
2. The product-value comparison explains the commercial opportunity.
Our US$1,500-to-US$7,000-per-tonne comparison represents approximately 4.7 times the product value, with a separate US$20,000 estimate for advanced capacitor-based applications.
3. Integration determines how that opportunity is captured.
Feedstock preparation, carbon upgrading, graphite conversion and customer requirements must be developed together. We bring experience across those stages.
These are selected achievements and lessons. Further technical and commercial insights are available through an engagement with Klean.
Your recovered carbon may support a more valuable product strategy when the right preparation, upgrading process and end market are developed together. We can assess the route from your existing char or rCB to the product applications that best fit your material and commercial objectives.
Submit Your Project for Evaluation >> GO.
Tell us your feedstock or carbon source, available analysis, annual volume, location and target product. For a sufficiently defined project, a paid Detailed Equipment Quotation (DEQ) is the appropriate next step, progressing through a Definitive Feasibility Study (DFS) and then Front-End Engineering Design (FEED). Proprietary process details and application data are addressed within the agreed engagement and appropriate confidentiality arrangements.
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ABOUT THE INFORMATION PRESENTED
This case study presents selected we project achievements and published application-value comparisons. Detailed product data, process know-how and confidential project information are addressed through an authorized 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”.
