LACK OF ADEQUATE SOLUTION FOR END-OF-LIFE TYRES HAS HAZARDOUS CONSEQUENCES
Black Bear Carbon (BBC) has developed a unique proprietary technology to upcycle End-of-Life Tyres (“ELT”), which brings circularity to the production of carbon black (CB) with a carbon minimal production process and financially attractive prospect. The technology provides a sustainable solution to some of the most prominent environmental and societal problems; by reducing waste, recovering scarce resources (oil and gas) and reducing CO2 emissions. Sustainable outlets for ELT are scarce and the lack thereof can cause major environmental and health problems, in particular at those areas in the world where tyres are still being dumped, landfilled or burned.
Environmental impact
Adequate processing is challenging due to the composition of ELT and emissions. Non-biodegradable materials carry a life expectancy of 80-100 years and are a major fire hazard, with risk of severe pollution in air, water and soil. Processors focus on capturing energetic value, leaving micronized rubber (or shreds) which are mainly used for low-end applications (e.g. cement). Meanwhile, tyre manufacturers are forced to close the loop as regulators have started to ban several low-end applications in specific regions.
Health hazard
ELT dumpsites are a breeding place for mosquitoes and vermin that spread diseases accounting for more than 750.000 deaths every year. Alternative applications of using tyre shreds pose a potential health risk (e.g. sporting grounds).
Waste of valuable natural resources
CB is a widely used resource throughout industries. To meet demand, the petrochemical industry converts 30 Mt of crude oil to produce 14 Mt of CB while emitting 40 Mt of CO2, each year. Lack of viable recycling methods results in 9 Mt of CB wasted annually (disposed of by dumping, landfilling or burning) and simply wasting valuable resources
Black Bear Carbon’s purpose is to harvest and upcycle carbon black
Producers throughout industries seek to replace furnace CB with sustainable alternatives. Recovered Carbon Black (rCB) is the only suitable alternative.
Black Bear Carbon has developed a unique process, which is groundbreaking as it allows for production of high-quality rCB, produced to meet requirements of manufacturers throughout industries. This will ultimately close the loop by extracting rCB from ELT and making them available for re-use in tyre manufacturing.
Vision
We believe in a circular and carbon neutral society
Mission
We want to recover valuable materials (rCB and pyrolysis oil) from ELT and reduce the global CO2 emission and…
….be a global leader, providing the best economical, technological and circular solution to do so, allowing our stakeholders to achieve their ESG goals
Are you interested? Please contact us
Geert Glimmerveen
Chief Financial Officer
+31 (0)85 130 58 41
More about us
Our lead investor Rob van der Mey of Capricorn about his findings, motives, experience, also sharing some tips and top
MANAGEMENT TEAM AND ORGANISATION BBC HOLDING
FINANCE
Geert Glimmerveen
Geert started his career at McKinsey & Co after which he worked for various companies in executive positions (DAF Trucks, Academic Hospital Utrecht, Eneco Energy Company, Egeria Private Equity) mainly in Finance, Strategy and Operations. Within his last position he was MD for Van Gansewinkel Netherlands. Within Black Bear he is responsible for finance, logistics and quality control.
COMMERCIAL DIRECTOR
Richard Dikkers
Richard has a master degree in Business Administration and started his career at Oil tanking where he spent thirteen years holding various managerial positions in Finance, Sales and Business Development. Richard spent over five years working and living abroad, in Hamburg, Jakarta and Singapore. Prior to starting at Black Bear, Richard was holding the role of Director New Business & Market Intelligence. Richard joined BBC in May 2022 as Commercial Director.
CEO
Victor Vreeken
Victor Vreeken (48) is holding master degrees in Mechanical Engineering, Chemical Engineering and Business Administration (MBA). Before joining Black Bear, Vreeken spent over 8 years at Avantium, active in the emerging industry of renewable and sustainable chemistry. Most recently he was Chief Operations Officer for Renewable Polymers business within Avantium. Vreeken joined Black Bear Carbon in January 2020 in the position of Chief Technology Officer. In August 2021 he transitioned into the role of CEO.
SUPERVISORY BOARD
CHAIRMAN
Koos Breen (Chair)
Koos was educated as an engineer at TU Delft and carries a bachelor’s degree from Erasmus school of economics. He worked 24 years for Philips in Consumer Electronics , mainly in Asia. In 1997, he followed the Executive Program at Wharton. In 1998 Koos joined the management of van Leeuwen Buizen where he became CEO in 2000. In 2007 he moved to the firm’s BoD. Later on, he expanded his impact by becoming part of the board at Ahrend, Koninklijke Smilde, Teijin Aramid, and Black Bear.
MEMBER
Jos Schneiders
Jos is a mechanical engineer from TU Eindhoven. He has spent 35 years at DSM in various executive and presidential positions. Since 2008 he is Chairman at Limburg Ventures and in 2011 he also started as Chairman at the Board of Limburg Economic Development. He plays a similar role at the educational institution Arcus. Since 2014 he is a member of the Supervisory Board of Chemelot Ventures, one of Black Bear’s investors.
MEMBER
Rob van der Meij
Rob is a chemical engineer from TU Delft and has worked both in the corporate, strategy consulting and start-up world of chemicals, process and water technology. Rob has held management positions at Akzo and Shell. He was also founder and CEO of KiOR. Rob completed the New Board Program at Neyenrode Business University. At this moment Rob is Senior Investment Manager at Capricorn, one of Black Bear’s investors.