Klean Industries delivers a bold reality check on the “financial illusion” often portrayed around recovered carbon black (rCB) from tire pyrolysis. While pyrolysis remains a powerful solution for sustainable tire recycling, many developers and investors are misled by inflated claims about profitability, yields, and market value. This piece clarifies the fundamental economics of tire pyrolysis and sets the record straight on what it truly takes to create a commercially viable rCB business.

Recent changes in legislative policy throughout the European Union (including the UK Government’s legislation) now stipulate that waste recyclers are legally responsible for ensuring that the best method of processing waste must be adopted in terms of the Waste Hierarchy. This should mean that the most advanced technologies, such as pyrolysis and gasification, are some of the preferred options when disposing of complex waste streams such as tires and plastics.

Pyrolysis and Gasification ultimately reclaim the core materials used to manufacture these products. In the case of tire pyrolysis, the process breaks tires down into their constituent components, which consist of carbonaceous char that can be refined into carbon black, a clean pyro-gas, green diesel oil, and reusable steel. The gas is used as fuel to provide heat for the process, while the oil and steel are then reused directly back into industrial manufacturing applications. Once refined, the remaining component, carbon black, is used in everyday products worldwide as a coloring pigment or in manufacturing fillers as a reinforcement agent in rubber and plastic products. 

One of the primary uses for carbon black is in producing new tires and rubber-related goods, so recovering and reusing it saves an immense amount of energy because virgin carbon black is made from cracking oil to manufacture it. The benefits of this process are huge, and the opportunity for tire pyrolysis is massive as there are hundreds if not thousands of landfills containing tens of millions of tires around the planet, which can be emptied and processed into green reusable commodities, reducing environmental pollution. It’s known that for every tonne of carbon black produced from the tire pyrolysis process, a minimum of 2 tonnes of greenhouse gases are spared from entering the atmosphere, which would otherwise be emitted during the conventional carbon black production process.

Given the above, why aren’t thousands of tire pyrolysis plants around the world breaking down tens of millions of scrap tires into reusable products instead of landfilling them or burning them in cement kilns? 

Let’s look at some generic internet sales websites. We find thousands of companies from India and China purporting to sell ‘reliable’ and ‘energy-saving’ pyrolysis plants ranging in price from $30,000 to $250,000. The problem is that the lower-priced equipment is fundamental because it only produces low-grade oil and a highly contaminated carbon char product full of impurities. Because of these impurities, the char end-product is, in effect, worthless. Reclaimed carbon black using a pyrolysis process also contains other materials used in the tire manufacturing process, including silica, zinc, and sulfur, which are used until refined. In simple terms, the carbon char product produced from the cheaper technologies is far from pure and needs to be refined using highly advanced processes and technological know-how. The advanced carbon black refining technologies required to refine the char product into a high-grade, reusable carbon black product cost more than the above-mentioned pyrolysis plants. 

Interestingly, companies selling the cheaper plants claim that the char-like product is “carbon black” when it is “NOT.” Tire pyrolysis is a highly technical engineering process that, when correctly done, requires the carbon black to be purified and refined into a higher grade and, ultimately, a reusable commodity. When using the Klean pyrolysis process, the tires are fed into a kiln reactor system that removes the oxygen from the environment to prevent combustion. It then heats the tires to between 320 to 660 Degrees Celsius, separating the tires’ raw ingredients into their primary elements. The next stage is critical, where the carbon black is refined into a purer form using advanced nano-carbon upgrading technologies. This stage is not included in the process used or promoted by the Chinese and Indian pyrolysis plants, which are, in effect, nothing more than large ovens that produce burnt, unusable end products. The recovered carbon black accounts for 60% of the return on investment, so advanced nano carbon refining equipment is the key to a profitable business model. 

The Klean Team has been building and operating commercial tire pyrolysis plants since the 1980s and is an expert in carbon black upgrading and manufacturing. The key attributes of the processing concepts lie in the interaction between the single parts of the process. So, it’s not a question of one patent or process but a combination of thousands of innovations; this know-how is the key to producing quality reusable end products and profitable plants. 

The Klean Team, a carbon processing specialist, has implemented several commercially successful plants and is rapidly developing new projects in North America and Europe. Klean’s business model is to build, own, and operate plants using wholly integrated systems, which include advanced nano-carbon-upgrading systems, which they have modified and perfected since the 1990s. As a result of the general lack of knowledge about carbon black and pyrolysis, the Klean Team is now seeing more and more customers contacting them for advice and consultations on what to do with low-grade char-like end products. The irony is that people who initially decided to buy cheaper pyrolysis technologies and chose not to invest in Klean technologies are now re-approaching Klean Industries for advice and consultations on best upgrading their plants. 


Jesse Klinkhamer, CEO of the Klean Industries Group, said, “Contrary to some misconceptions, pyrolysis is not putting tires in an oven and cooking them, then hoping to be able to sell the leftover charred remains. It requires high-tech, industrial-grade equipment to produce high-quality, saleable end products. The Klean pyrolysis systems are a win-win solution for governments, corporations, and the general public who wish to reduce landfill waste and eliminate environmental pollution while dramatically reducing greenhouse gases and producing clean domestic energy and sustainable green commodities. All of our technologies exceed emissions protocols and requirements set globally. Governments and industries are embracing Klean’s proven technology portfolio, which offers a highly profitable solution for recycling millions of scrap tires into reusable commodities and clean domestic energy. We constantly exceed our customers’ expectations and dramatically lower their environmental footprints. 

Make Smarter Pyrolysis Investments with Klean

Don’t Be Misled – Get the Truth on rCB Economics from the Experts at Klean Industries

Klean Industries has over 20 years of experience developing bankable tire pyrolysis projects that produce reliable yields, real ROI, and market-ready recovered carbon black. We’ve seen too many companies fail by chasing myths.

Why Trust Klean Industries?

✅ Deep knowledge of pyrolysis economics and market dynamics
✅ Verified rCB performance metrics and yield expectations
✅ Technology backed by real-world operational data
✅ End-to-end project delivery with feasibility, engineering, and market access

Contact Klean Industries for a realistic feasibility study, project assessment, or rCB market strategy that delivers results—not illusions » GO.
 

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