Bolder secures extra backing for Antwerp tire recycling plant

Bolder Industries Belgium has landed an additional €1 million in funding from the Flemish government for its end-of-life tire (ELT) pyrolysis facility at the Port of Antwerp-Bruges. The fresh cash piles onto the €32.3 million grant already awarded under the EU Emissions Trading System Innovation Fund, managed by CINEA, marking the project as Bolder’s first European industrial facility. Construction is slated to kick off in 2026, with operations expected to start in 2027. At full tilt, the Antwerp plant will chew through roughly 6 million ELTs every year, yielding nearly 18 kilotonnes per annum (ktpa) of recovered carbon black—traded as BolderBlack—and 21ktpa of pyrolysis oil under the BolderOil brand. Bolder reckons the recycled carbon black will sport an 85% lower carbon footprint versus virgin carbon black. The outfit also forecasts more than 50 direct jobs on site and a CO₂ cut of around 606 kilotonnes over the first decade. “We appreciate the continued support and what it signals to the market,” said CEO Tony Wibbeler, calling Antwerp “the right place to prove that circular manufacturing is already realised.”