Orion S.A., a global speciality chemicals company, today announced plans to shut down three to five carbon black production lines across facilities in the Americas and EMEA by the end of 2025. CEO Corning Painter stated that this decision aligns with the company’s strategy to prioritise maintenance investments on higher-performing lines, improving reliability and productivity while rationalising underperforming assets. The move aims to boost free cash flow.

Painter noted that recent US tariffs, the EU anti-dumping probe and ongoing tyre capacity investments in these regions are expected to reverse the decline in local tyre manufacturing. However, due to the uncertain timeline of this recovery, Orion has chosen to act now to optimise operations.

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Prism Worldwide, a pioneer in converting discarded tyres and plastic waste into high-value circular polymers, has introduced three revolutionary advancements that promise to reshape the sustainable materials landscape. The company's breakthroughs in eliminating rubber odours, creating tyre-derived thermoplastic vulcanizates (TPV) and enabling high-content EPDM recycling address longstanding obstacles that have hindered widespread adoption of recycled materials across industries.

The company's cost-efficient, American-made production methods offer significant savings compared to virgin materials – a critical advantage amid fluctuating tariffs and increasing demand for domestic supply chains. This economic benefit allows manufacturers to embrace sustainable solutions without compromising profitability, removing a major barrier to eco-friendly material adoption.

Prism's innovations enable manufacturers to seamlessly integrate up to 50 percent recycled tyre content into existing production processes like injection moulding and extrusion – a dramatic improvement over previous limitations. This technological leap expands applications beyond traditional compression moulding, allowing for odour-free recycled materials in premium products like automotive interiors and fitness equipment.

The company's odour-elimination technology, rigorously tested to meet automotive industry standards, solves one of recycling's most persistent challenges. Equally groundbreaking is Prism's development of sustainable TPV derived entirely from end-of-life tyres – an industry first that creates new possibilities for high-value applications. Equally significant is their breakthrough in EPDM recycling, overcoming the material's inherent resistance to reuse through an innovative devulcanisation process that maintains critical performance characteristics.

These collective advancements represent more than incremental improvements – they fundamentally redefine what's possible with recycled materials. By tackling odour, performance and cost challenges simultaneously, Prism is transforming sustainability from a compliance obligation into a competitive advantage.

Bob Abramowitz, CEO, Prism Worldwide, said, “This is a turning point for end-of-life tyre recycling and sustainable polymer development. These are not incremental improvements. We’ve tackled odour, cost and performance, three of the biggest barriers to more widespread adoption of recycled materials, and overcome them all with commercially viable solutions. Our team’s diligence in developing solutions that solve these challenges allows us to deliver cost-effective, high-performance materials without requiring customers to pay a green premium. Companies pay lip service to sustainability values, but they change their tune when it costs more. We are creating additional profit opportunities while helping them to meet corporate sustainability objectives.”

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On 28 February 2025, Bekaert finalised an agreement to sell its Steel Wire Solutions businesses in Costa Rica, Ecuador and Venezuela to Grupo AG. This divestment aligns with Bekaert’s strategic shift away from commoditised, volatile markets towards higher-growth sectors with stronger profitability and capital returns. Following regulatory approvals, including competition clearance, the transaction was completed on 30 June 2025.

The deal valued the divested businesses at a consolidated enterprise value of USD 73 million. The proceeds will bolster Bekaert’s financial position, supporting shareholder returns and strategic growth investments. In the first half of 2025, these operations generated around EUR 60 million in revenue and EUR 4 million in underlying EBIT. Excluding a non-cash, cumulative translation adjustment of EUR -56 million due to Venezuela’s historical currency devaluations, the sale is expected to yield an estimated profit of EUR 15 million.

Post-transaction, Latin America will account for roughly four percent of Bekaert’s consolidated sales. This move reflects the company’s ongoing portfolio optimization, prioritising stable, high-margin markets while reducing exposure to less predictable regions. The successful closure of this deal marks another step in Bekaert’s long-term strategy to enhance profitability and sustainable growth.

François Desné, Divisional CEO, Bekaert’s Steel Wire Solutions, said, “The successful completion of this transaction marks another important milestone in the transformation of the Steel Wire Solutions portfolio. Equally, we are confident that our teams and customers in Costa Rica, Ecuador and Venezuela will thrive under the leadership of Grupo AG. We are proud of what we have achieved together in Latin America over the past years and wish our local teams and Grupo AG every success as they embark on this new chapter.”

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HS HYOSUNG ADVANCED MATERIALS signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with TATA STEEL Thailand last month to secure a long-term supply of sustainable steel raw materials. This partnership ensures a stable procurement of eco-friendly steel for manufacturing tyre steel cords, reinforcing the company’s commitment to sustainability.

TATA STEEL Thailand, part of India’s renowned Tata Group, specialises in producing high-quality steel using the electric arc furnace (EAF) method. This process recycles scrap metal and is far more energy-efficient than traditional blast furnaces, reducing carbon emissions by approximately 60 percent. By sourcing these sustainable materials, HS HYOSUNG ADVANCED MATERIALS can manufacture tyre steel cords with a significantly lower carbon footprint. Additionally, sustainable steel cords yield higher profit margins compared to conventional alternatives, strengthening the company’s revenue stream in this sector.

Tyre steel cords are critical for enhancing tyre durability and shape stability, with growing demand for high-strength variants due to the expanding electric vehicle market. Furthermore, advanced markets like Europe are increasingly prioritising sustainable materials, boosting sales potential for eco-friendly steel cords. HS HYOSUNG ADVANCED MATERIALS aims to increase the proportion of sustainable steel cord sales from five percent in 2025 to 15 percent by 2027.

The company’s sustainability efforts have been widely recognised. In October 2023, it received the Platinum Medal from EcoVadis, placing it in the top one percent of over 130,000 global companies assessed for ESG performance. Additionally, it was listed on the Dow Jones Sustainability Index (DJSI) Korea for the second consecutive year in December, underscoring its leadership in sustainable business practices.

Nak-Yang Sung, CEO, HS HYOSUNG ADVANCED MATERIALS, said, “Through this MOU, we have secured a stable source of sustainable raw materials and will continue to meet the growing demand from global tyre manufacturers for sustainable products.”

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A research team at the Department of Chemistry at KAIST (Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology) has made a groundbreaking advancement by developing a method to convert waste tires into high-purity cyclic alkenes – essential chemical components for producing rubber and nylon. This innovation represents a major leap forward in sustainable tyre recycling.

Under the leadership of Professor Soon Hyeok Hong, the team created a dual-catalyst system that overcomes the limitations of traditional recycling methods. Tyres contain a complex mix of synthetic and natural rubber, strengthened with additives like carbon black and silica. The vulcanisation process, which enhances durability by forming heat-resistant cross-linked polymers, has historically made tyres difficult to recycle chemically.

Existing approaches, such as pyrolysis, require extreme heat (350–800°C) and yield low-quality hydrocarbon mixtures with poor selectivity. KAIST's solution uses two specialised catalysts: the first breaks down rubber molecules, while the second reassembles them into cyclic alkenes. This method achieves an impressive 82 percent yield with up to 92 percent selectivity, producing high-value chemicals like cyclopentene (for rubber) and cyclohexene (for nylon).

The team successfully tested this process on actual waste tyres, demonstrating its efficiency at lower temperatures compared to pyrolysis. Beyond tyres, the technology can be adapted for other rubber waste, offering a scalable circular economy solution. Supported by the National Research Foundation of Korea, this research was published in Chem on 18 June, marking a significant step towards sustainable material recycling.

Professor Hong said, "This research offers an innovative solution for the chemical recycling of waste tyres. We aim to develop next-generation high-efficiency catalysts and lay the groundwork for commercialisation to enhance economic feasibility. Ultimately, our goal is to contribute to solving the broader waste plastic problem through fundamental chemistry."

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