Tag: Birla Carbon

Business

Birla Carbon plants in the USA and South Korea secure ISCC PLUS Certification

Feb 9, 2024 by Sujata Muguda 0 Comments #Birla Carbon, #Birla Carbon's plant, #ISCC PLUS certification, #John Loudermilk.

Mumbai, India and Marietta, USA – February 9, 2024: Birla Carbon, one of the leading manufacturers and suppliers of high-quality carbon-based solutions, is happy to announce that its plant in the USA (Hickok) and South Korea (Yeosu) has secured the ISCC PLUS certification with zero non-conformities. This accomplishment follows the successful ISCC PLUS certification of Birla Carbon’s plant in Italy, reflecting the company’s commitment to sustainability and circularity.

Birla Carbon’s Italy plant received the ISCC PLUS certification in May 2023, making it the first plant to receive this certification, showcasing the business’ dedication to providing advanced products to the industry.

Commenting on this recognition, John Loudermilk, President and Chief Executive Officer, Birla Carbon, said, “We are proud to announce the ISCC PLUS certification for our plant in Hickok (USA) and Yeosu (Korea), marking another milestone in our sustainability journey. These achievements underscore Birla Carbon’s steadfast commitment to environmental responsibility. As we expand our certification efforts globally, with the rest of our locations, we are reinforcing our dedication to sustainable and traceable practices.” He further added, “Birla Carbon remains committed to setting industry benchmarks and contributing to a more sustainable future.”

Looking ahead, Birla Carbon is actively pursuing ISCC PLUS certification for several other global plants. The certification process for two units in Brazil and three units in India, Spain, Egypt, and Hungary is underway, with the remaining sites slated for completion through the remainder of CY 2024. Birla Carbon remains dedicated to implementing sustainable practices, and this recognition reinforces its commitment to responsible operations.

This globally recognized certification is in line with Birla Carbon’s aspiration to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2050 and the successful introduction of ContinuaTM Sustainable Carbonaceous Material (SCM).

Business

GranBio Technologies in Partnership with Birla Carbon Awarded $730,000 in Grants for Scale-Up of Nanocellulose Dispersion Composite (NDCTM) Masterbatch

Dec 1, 2021 by Rekha Nair 0 Comments #Bernardo Gradin, #Birla Carbon, #Chief Executive Officer, #Chief Executive Officer of GranBio Technologies, #John Loudermilk.

Atlanta, USA – AVAPCO, a subsidiary of GranBio Technologies, announces that it has been awarded $500,000 in funding from P3Nano, a public private partnership between the U.S. Endowment for Forestry & Communities and the USDA Forest Service (USFS), along with an additional $230,000 from the USFS under a separate program to advance scale-up and commercial introduction of the Nanocellulose Dispersion Composite (NDC™) rubber masterbatch for the tire and rubber goods markets.

The breakthrough NDC masterbatch is the result of a four-year Joint Development Program between Birla Carbon and GranBio, designed to address growing sustainability demands from the tire industry in terms of improving both tire rolling resistance and vehicle fuel economy through enabling the incorporation of sustainable, bio-derived nanocellulose into commercial rubber compounds.

P3Nano’s funding program targets projects designed to advance the commercialization of cellulosic nanomaterials. Under the competitive Award, the companies will demonstrate continuous scale-up of production of the NDC at GranBio’s Biorefinery in Thomaston, Georgia for anticipated full-scale factory and on-road tire trials by global partners within the tire and mechanical rubber goods industries.

Under the additional competitive award from the USFS’s Wood Innovations program, designed to expand and accelerate market growth for wood products, the companies will prepare an engineering package, market analysis, and financial modeling for the first NDC commercial plant.

“The NDC project demonstrates how Birla Carbon continues to drive innovation in sustainability supporting our ambitions and those of our customers,” said John Loudermilk, Chief Executive Officer, Birla Carbon. “The partnership with GranBio allows us to ‘Share the Strength’ in support of our aspiration to achieve net zero carbon emissions, including the development of novel materials from biomass.”

According to Bernardo Gradin, Chief Executive Officer of GranBio Technologies, “The NDC is a key example of GranBio’s mission to “Enable Net ZeroTM” solutions through the development and deployment of sustainable biomass-based technologies across the biofuels, biochemicals, and advanced biomaterials sectors. The partnership with Birla Carbon materializes a common strategy to enable net-zero emission in tires and the automotive value chain.”

For more information about the NDC masterbatch, please contact the development teams at Birla Carbon (charles.herd@adityabirla.com) and GranBio Technologies (knelson@granbio.com).

Business World, News

12 Birla Carbon sites receive Safety Performance Awards from International Carbon Black Association

Jun 17, 2021 by Rekha Nair 0 Comments #and Sustainability Officer, #Birla Carbon, #Chief Legal, #Joe Gaynor, #Risk

Marietta, USA –  The International Carbon Black Association (ICBA) awarded certificates of recognition to 12 Birla Carbon sites for achieving a level of safety performance above the industry average, thus making it a leading carbon black manufacturer in the realm of safety performance. The sites include the two R&D centers in the United States and India. These sites are recognized at the Gold level for their safety efforts for the calendar year 2020. Of the 12 sites, seven sites have consistently received the Gold rating for the third consecutive year.

Twelve gold awards were awarded respectively to Birla Carbon plants across North and South America, Europe, and Asia. This achievement gains further importance since, despite the challenges associated with the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on personnel and manufacturing facilities worldwide, Birla Carbon still upheld its safety norms for all its employees globally.

Speaking about the recognition, Joe Gaynor, Chief Legal, Risk, and Sustainability Officer, Birla Carbon, said, “Despite the challenging times which were faced due to the pandemic, Birla Carbon continued to build and maintain its culture of safety, globally. All our plants maintained the highest safety standards for all employees, which is in many ways built on our purpose to ‘Share the Strength’”. He further added, “Such recognition by the ICBA only emphasizes the value of safety for our employees and across the industry. I want to thank the ICBA for this recognition, as it motivates the industry to partner and work towards a stronger and safer future for everyone.”

The ‘Safety Recognition Program’ identifies plants that go the distance to protect the carbon black industry’s workforce. The goal is to have every person going home the same way they arrived at the worksite.

This recognition was started by the ICBA to acknowledge outstanding safety records and educate policymakers and the public about the carbon black industry’s genuine regard for making employee safety a pre-condition for successful operations. It is a voluntary program where the participating companies submit the previous year’s safety performance data, which gets certified by the company’s members on the ICBA Board of Directors. Awards are given in three categories, and the sites that meet more than one award criteria receive the highest recognition:

· Bronze Awards are given to sites that achieved zero Lost Work Day (LWD) cases for their employees during the calendar year of 2020. An LWD case is a work-related injury or illness resulting in one or more lost workdays for the employee following the day of the injury.

· Silver Awards recognize sites that met the requirements of the Bronze Awards or demonstrate greater than 50% improvement from the previous year; and achieved zero medical aid or OSHA recordable incidents or greater than 50% improvement from the previous year; zero fires or property damage incidents with an impact greater than $100K; and zero regulatory citations for safety-related events, audits, or activities.

· Gold Awards were presented to sites that met the criteria for Silver Awards and received an external safety or environmental management system certification recognition, such as ISO 45001, ISO 14001, OHSAS 18001, OSHA VPP, or equivalent 3rd party MGMT System certification recognition; or implemented a company-specific safety management system and achieved more than three years with a zero LWD case at the facility.

Business World

Birla Carbon introduces ‘CONTINUA’

May 25, 2021 by Neel Achary 0 Comments #Birla Carbon, #Chief Executive Officer, #Dr. Santrupt B. Misra

It is time to make carbon black Circular Birla Carbon introduces ‘CONTINUA’

Mumbai, India & Marietta, USA – May 25, 2021: Birla Carbon, a global carbon black leader, today introduced a first-of-its-kind Sustainable Carbonaceous Material with the launch of CONTINUA. This represents a ground-breaking step forward in the availability and know-how of sustainable solutions in the carbon black industry.

‘Sustainability at Scale’ is one of the key differentiators of Continua supported by technical expertise and backed by the trust and credibility of Birla Carbon. Continua products, by their circular nature, will enable large and quantifiable carbon footprint reductions, paving the way for greener, cleaner, and more sustainable industry value chains. Over the next five years, 73,000 tonnes of Continua will be available annually for use in a wide range of applications including tires, mechanical rubber goods, plastics, and many more.

A Life Cycle Assessment conducted according to ISO 14040 and ISO 14044, demonstrates that, at full capacity, 228,000 tonnes of direct and indirect CO2 emissions will be eliminated on an annual basis when compared to the conventional carbon black process.

Speaking at the announcement, Dr. Santrupt B. Misra, Chief Executive Officer, Birla Carbon, said, “As leaders in our industry, it is our responsibility to make a difference through our focus on sustainability and innovation. We are now ready to share sustainable solutions with the world. With the launch of ‘Continua’, we hope to deliver consistent, Sustainable Carbonaceous Materials to our customers to take their circularity aspirations closer to reality.” He further added, “Birla Carbon’s purpose is to ‘Share the Strength’, and with ‘Continua’, we have taken our purpose a step further and higher. We look forward to engaging our customers in making sustainability and circularity a reality through ‘Continua-ous innovation’.”

Commenting on the announcement, John Loudermilk, Chief Operating Officer, said, “Continua embodies our untiring determination to innovate towards sustainable business solutions. The infinity symbol spells out the brand name Continua, representing our relentless spirit of continuously working towards true sustainability and circularity in the value chains we serve. The unfinished infinity loop is an invitation to come together and explore the potential of Continua products to create more circularity throughout our common value chains.”

The Continua product offering comprises not only the quality, consistency and sustainable attributes of the carbonaceous materials but is accompanied by technical expertise, a robust supply chain, and Birla Carbon’s industry leadership.

Business World, News

Birla Carbon EMEA Price Change Announcement

May 24, 2021 by Rekha Nair 0 Comments #Birla Carbon

Mumbai, India & Marietta, USA – Effective June 1, 2021, Birla Carbon will increase the price for all products produced in the Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA) region by Euro 97/MT. All shipments made on or after this date are subject to the price increase.

This increase is necessary in order to compensate additional costs incurred, including in freights, logistics and overall operations, as well as to sustain investments in the continuous improvement of our operations. Thus ensuring quality of our products and environmental compliance of our sites. Birla Carbon is committed to serving its customers in every region of the world.

Additionally, we are also studying the ideal ways to address the challenge of increasing CO2 emission costs and will be announcing further measures soon.

Your business is valued by Birla Carbon and your continued support is appreciated. Please contact your Birla Carbon representative should you have questions regarding this price change announcement.

Business World, News

Dr. Ann Schoeb appointed Chief Research and Development Officer at Birla Carbon

Apr 7, 2021 by Rekha Nair 0 Comments #Birla Carbon, #Chief Research and Development Officer, #Dr. Ann Schoeb, #John Loudermilk.

Mumbai/India and Marietta/USA  – Birla Carbon today announced the appointment of Dr. Ann Schoeb as Chief Research and Development Officer.

Dr. Schoeb will have full responsibility for the Research and Development work at Birla Carbon and will join the company’s Senior Management Team reporting to John Loudermilk, Chief Operating Officer.

”Ann brings a wealth of experience creating value through research and development in a variety of chemical industries. Her unique approach will accelerate our growth ambitions by helping our customers meet their aspirations,” stated John Loudermilk.

Before joining Birla Carbon, Dr. Schoeb served as the Chief Technology Officer at AdvanSix, previously part of Honeywell’s Resins and Chemicals division until 2016. Dr. Schoeb began her career with The Dow Chemical Company as a research scientist and moved through various leadership roles over 16 years before joining Advansix/Honeywell in 2010.

Dr. Schoeb has a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry from Minnesota State University, a Master of Science in Chemical Engineering, and a Doctor of Philosophy in Chemical Engineering from Iowa State University.

Business World, News

Birla Carbon recognized with the fifth consecutive Gold rating by EcoVadis for sustainability practices

Feb 25, 2021 by Rekha Nair 0 Comments #Birla Carbon, #Chief Legal, #Joe Gaynor, #Sustainability and Risk Officer

Mumbai, India & Marietta, USA  – Birla Carbon has been awarded a Gold level rating for the fifth consecutive year by EcoVadis, an independent sustainability rating agency. This recognition confirms Birla Carbon’s position as an industry leader in advanced sustainability practices and reporting and places it in the top 3% of companies in its sector. The rating was provided after reviewing Birla Carbon’s sustainability practices in its recently published eighth sustainability report, Bending Towards Circularity.

Commenting on the achievement, Joe Gaynor, Chief Legal, Sustainability and Risk Officer, Birla Carbon, shared, “At Birla Carbon, sustainability is more than a commitment — It is central to who we are and how we operate. We are both proud and humbled to receive this award in a year when we, like most of the world during this global pandemic, have remained laser-focused on ensuring a safe workplace for our employees and uninterrupted supply and services to our customers.” He further added, “Five consecutive Gold ratings is a noteworthy achievement, but it would not be possible without the consistent and devoted efforts by all of our employees. I would like to thank our employees for their continuous commitment to our Purpose to ‘Share the Strength’, for it is through that collaboration that we are able to remain a good neighbor in our communities, a reliable supplier to our customers and a safe home for our employees. We at Birla Carbon are committed to constant improvement in order to remain an industry leader in sustainability, and we are making plans to have an even greater impact in the years to come.”

With many of Birla Carbon’s customers utilizing the EcoVadis assessment to measure business sustainability performance, the rating is an important aspect in determining sustainability progress.

The overall performance rating by EcoVadis is based on the 21 criteria defined over four categories: environment, labor, and human rights, ethic, and sustainable procurement practices. With an overall score of 70, Birla Carbon is in the top 3% of all companies assessed in its category.

EcoVadis is the world’s largest and most trusted provider of business sustainability ratings, and since its founding in 2007, to date, EcoVadis has rated over 75,000 trading partners worldwide, mitigating risk for global organizations for more than 300 leading multinationals worldwide. Combining People, Process, and Platform, EcoVadis has developed technology and a CSR assessment method covering 190 purchasing categories, 150 countries, and 21 CSR indicators. More than 55,000 companies use EcoVadis to reduce risks, drive innovation and foster transparency and trust between trading partners.

About Birla Carbon

Birla Carbon is a leading global supplier of carbon black. As one of the flagship businesses of the leading Indian multinational conglomerate, the Aditya Birla Group, Birla Carbon provides innovative sustainable carbon black solutions that enhance the performance of paints and coatings, inks and toners, plastics, adhesives, sealants, textile fibers, mechanical rubber goods, and tires. The company’s footprint extends across 12 countries with 16 manufacturing facilities and two state-of-the-art technology centers in Marietta (USA) and Taloja (India), providing industry-leading innovation. Its Sustainable Operational Excellence (SOE) strategy focuses on employee safety, environmental stewardship, efficient use of carbon sources, and operating in a socially and ethically responsible manner.