Today’s second international story concerns carbon black recovery from end-of-life tyres. On 16 October 2026, Rubber World covered Sebastian Bogdahn’s doctoral research, which was also presented at an AZuR chemical-recycling project-group meeting on 1 October. The work examines carbonaceous materials from tyre pyrolysis together with environmental assessment; it is not an announcement that a new commercial pigment has entered the market.
From tyre recycling to a qualified raw material
The university abstract places pyrolysis within the transition to a circular economy. Solid carbonaceous products and recovered oil can be assessed for their potential to replace conventional resources. A central qualification is that recovered pyrolysis material, carbon black made from pyrolysis oil and conventional carbon black differ in quality. The research identifies overcoming these differences, alongside the interim use of blends, as part of the development pathway.
For pigment manufacturers, obtaining a black material and obtaining a grade suitable for coatings or inks are separate milestones. Visual blackness does not establish tint strength or dispersion performance. Ash, residual materials, particle consistency and surface behaviour are among the properties that need application-specific assessment for recovered products. A result demonstrated in rubber cannot automatically qualify the same material for a glossy coating or printing ink. Those applications require their own formulation tests and acceptance limits.
For manufacturers in Iran and the Middle East, the story is primarily a technology development to follow, rather than evidence of an immediate shift in local supply. Sample performance, repeatability, technical documentation and the cost of further treatment need to be established before industrial adoption. Environmental claims also depend on assessment boundaries, energy inputs and the material actually displaced. Research findings should therefore not be transferred to every recycling installation without a process-specific evaluation.
Analysis of this news
Recovered carbon black becomes industrially valuable when both quality and environmental performance can be measured. For black pigment applications, qualification in the actual formulation comes first. This report does not establish a ready, identical replacement for every conventional grade.
News source · University research abstract
Conceptual AI-generated illustration; not a documentary photograph of a company or research site.