The advancements will enable tyre makers to adopt circular materials at scale
Solvay is advancing its global circularity efforts by converting its highly dispersible silica (HDS) production in Asia to circular raw materials
In 2026, plants in Qingdao, China, and Gunsan, South Korea, will be adopting ISCC+ certified waste sand. This shift has the potential to enable over half of Solvay's regional HDS capacity to become circular, supporting the tyre industry's target to achieve 40%+ circular raw materials by 2030, with a global rollout planned from 2026 and beyond.
Through replacing virgin raw materials with industrial waste, Solvay is able to develop technologies that reduce resource consumption, providing tyre manufacturers with a cost-effective, high-volume, drop-in circular Zeosil silica that does not require reformulation.
An Nuyttens, President of Solvay’s Silica business unit, said, “Solvay’s circular silica helps improve fuel efficiency and EV range, offers long-lasting wear benefits, improves safety, while advancing sustainability. This is more than innovation, it’s a reinvention of how we source, produce, and collaborate across the value chain.”
This development advances upon the conversion of Solvay's Livorno, Italy, site, which uses rice husk ash, reflecting a global approach to circular sourcing. It complements Solvay Silica's wider sustainability plans, which feature the implementation of low-emission technology, like electric furnaces, to minimise the product carbon footprint of silica around the world.
