Every year, 1.5 billion tyres reach the end of their lives. The vast majority are dumped or incinerated, releasing huge amounts of CO2 and destroying very valuable resources. To solve this waste tyre problem, Black Bear has developed a unique carbonisation process to convert used tyres into recovered Carbon Black (rCB). The company has now successfully completed an €11m growth financing round.
With the generous investment, the company aims to refine the eco-friendly process and start introducing the technology worldwide, bringing the Dutch cleantech company from Nederweert a crucial step closer to bringing the circular economy to tyres.
Four new partners have become stakeholders: the largest Dutch banking company ING Group, two Netherlands-based investment companies 5square and Social Impact Ventures, as well as conglomerate SCG from Thailand (Asia). "This new consortium means much more than just new capital," says CEO Martijn Lopes Cardozo in press release. "They are strategic partners who will play a key role in the development of our technology and accelerate our international roll-out." Existing investors including original backers Chemelot Ventures and DOEN Participations (Ventures) also contributed to the round.
Black Bear's industrial-scale prototype plant is located in Nederweert, the Netherlands. It is capable of processing more than 1 million waste tyres annually, producing 5,000 tonnes of Carbon Black, 5,000 tonnes of biofuel, 3,000 tonnes of steel and one megawatt hour of green electricity. The plant is operated in partnership with Kargro, one of Europe's leading tyre recyclers.
Carbon Black is essential for the production of tyres, technical rubber products, inks and coatings. It is found in the ink of pens, smartphone covers or in anything painted black, but unfortunately Carbon Black is traditionally produced by burning oil. Tyres, however, contain around 30 per cent Carbon Black - and thus an opportunity to do more with it. Black Bear is now offering the first Cradle-to-Cradle CertifiedTM recovered Carbon Black to customers around the world. One of the more than 30 customers is AkzoNobel: the coatings company is one of the plant's earliest customers and uses the raw material to make powder coatings. Some of the investors say the following:
Mark Weustink, ING Sustainable Investments at ING Group:
"It is remarkable that Black Bear is able to turn old tyres into a very valuable product that can replace a polluting raw material. During the process they also generate energy, which means the production process is very energy efficient ", says Mark Weustink of ING Sustainable Investments. "With its pioneering circular model, Black Bear is driving sustainable change and has already won some big clients like AkzoNobel."
Cholanat Yanaranop, President of Chemicals Business, SCG:
"We are very committed to the circular economy and Black Bear is tackling a global problem, especially by significantly improving the carbon footprint of Carbon Black production," said SCG chairman Cholanat Yanaranop. "As an integrated petrochemical company focused on creating sustainability and innovations, we are very interested in the success of the Black Bear solution."
Helmer Schukken, Social Impact Ventures:
"We believe in the huge positive impact of the technology on the environment, especially as the Black Bear product can compete with Virgin Carbon Black in terms of cost and quality," says Helmer Schukken of Social Impact Ventures. "Another reason for our investment is the great management team, consisting not only of talented engineers, but also seasoned professionals in sales, finance and other functions needed for global rollout."
Mark Gitsels, 5square:
"If you really think about it, it is incredible that only 10 per cent of our resources are currently part of circular economies," says Mark Gitsels of 5square. "This is why we fully support Black Bear's excellent management team: their disruptive technology gives us the opportunity to make the world a little better while delivering attractive returns."
Source: Black Bear.
