February 6, 2026 15:52

Indian carbon black producer Birla Carbon has upgraded its Trecate facility in Italy with the addition of a new line to produce Continua SCM (Sustainable Carbonaceous Material), a chemically recycled material derived from end-of-life tires (ELTs) for use in tire applications as well as in technical rubber and plastics.

The new line will be supplied with recycled carbon black (rCB) from the ELT pyrolysis plant that Circtec brought onstream at the start of the year in Delfzijl, the Netherlands. The facility has a processing capacity of 50,000 tonnes of tires per year.

“Continua SCM represents the most consistent, high-quality, circular material in the carbon black industry today and replaces a portion of carbon black in most rubber and non-rubber applications,” said John Loudermilk, President and CEO of Birla Carbon. “The launch of this line is a key milestone in our ambition to put back into industry 300,000 tons of end-of-life tires annually by 2030, contributing to our aspiration to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050.”

The Trecate plant, located in the Piedmont region, was started up in the late 1950s by Columbian Carbon Europa Srl (CCE). Carbon black production began in 1961 with the commissioning of two dedicated lines. In 2011, the site was acquired by Indian multinational Aditya Birla and integrated into the Birla Carbon division.

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