When it comes to the economics of tire recycling, generating byproducts is one thing, but who actually buys them? After all, a recycling technology is only a business if its outputs have real markets, real buyers, and real prices.
The Carbon Black Extractor (CBX) produces three sellable byproducts from end-of-life tires: recovered carbon black (rCB), tire pyrolysis oil (TPO), and syngas. Together, they generate an estimated $7.5 million in annual byproduct revenue per unit. Here’s a look at the demand side of each.
Tire Manufacturers Are Racing Toward rCB
The largest market for rCB is the same industry that the tires came from. Tire production accounts for roughly 70% of rCB demand today¹, and the world’s largest manufacturers have made public commitments, locking in that demand for decades. Michelin has committed to building its tires from 40% renewable or recycled materials by 2030, and 100% by 2050². Bridgestone set the same targets and reached the 40% mark in 2025, years ahead of schedule³. Goodyear is working toward a 100% sustainable-material tire by 2030⁴.
Analysts project the global rCB market will nearly triple by the early 2030s, growing at double-digit rates¹. Michelin and Bridgestone have even co-published technical work to establish an international standard for rCB in new tires, one of the clearest signals that manufacturers intend to buy at scale.
But there’s a challenge. Most rCB on the market today can’t meet manufacturer standards. Recyclers are still struggling to eliminate ash from the pyrolysis process, and typical output contains around 20% ash. That’s why Gilead Dynamics has ensured that the CBX is already producing rCB with only 13% ash content and has a roadmap to reach 7% ash content, the level that makes rCB a true substitute for petroleum-derived virgin carbon black.
Tire Pyrolysis Oil Sells Into Markets That Already Exist
TPO is a heavy, diesel-like hydrocarbon mixture, chemically similar to heavy fuel oil. That familiarity is its advantage. TPO doesn’t require anyone to create a new market: it sells to industrial fuel buyers and to refiners as feedstock through commodity channels that have existed for decades. For an operator, that means established buyers and established pricing.
Syngas Is the Stream That Pays Twice
Syngas, a mix of hydrogen, methane, and carbon monoxide, can power heat and electricity generation. The CBX funnels it back into its own generator as a supplemental energy source, reducing one of the highest operating costs of any recycling system. Every unit of syngas the CBX consumes is energy the operator doesn’t have to buy. It’s the rare byproduct that improves the economics twice: once as an output, and again as an input.
Why Three Streams Matter
For an investor or operator, the value of the CBX lies in the diversification of three revenue lines. An operation built on a single commodity lives and dies with that commodity’s price, but the CBX produces three outputs serving different markets: tire manufacturing, industrial fuel, and on-site energy. That means no single price movement defines the business.
The demand side of tire recycling has never been stronger, and the buyers are already waiting. What they need is a supplier who can deliver consistent output at a quality they can verify, and that’s exactly what the CBX was built to do.
Learn more at gileaddynamics.com.