BolderBlack now used in ContiTech conveyor belt manufacturing

Boulder, CO – Continental’s group sector ContiTech and Bolder Industries announced the commercial-scale integration of BolderBlack®, Bolder’s proprietary recovered carbon black (rCB) alternative, into ContiTech’s conveyor belt manufacturing in the Americas region. The partnership puts sustainable raw materials to work across some of the world’s most demanding industrial supply chains. For an industry that has relied on fossil-fuel-derived carbon black for more than a century with few alternatives at scale, the move represents a measurable shift.
Over the past 12 months, ContiTech incorporated BolderBlack into general-purpose conveyor belt cover compounds across its facilities in the region. The integration followed a joint qualification process in which Bolder and ContiTech teams ran production trials across ContiTech’s plants in the Americas to validate processing behavior and material performance. The results confirmed BolderBlack met the full threshold industrial manufacturers require before scaling a new raw material input.
The impact extends well beyond the plant gate. ContiTech’s conveyor belts serve customers across energy, oil and gas, mining, and industrial manufacturing sectors operating under growing expectations to reduce their own emissions footprint.
“Sustainability in industrial manufacturing must be earned through performance, quality, consistency, and cost,” said Mathew Augustine, Head of Product Development, Industrial Solutions Americas, ContiTech. “By integrating BolderBlack into our conveyor belt production, we are demonstrating that circular materials can meet the rigorous standards our customers expect. This partnership with Bolder Industries shows that circularity and competitiveness can go hand in hand in real-world manufacturing.”
BolderBlack is produced from 100% post-consumer or post-industrial rubber waste through Bolder’s proprietary thermal conversion process. Compared to virgin carbon black production, the process requires approximately 98% less water and generates approximately 86% fewer greenhouse gas emissions[1].
“Manufacturers don’t adopt materials just because they’re sustainable. They select materials because they perform,” said Tony Wibbeler, CEO of Bolder Industries. “BolderBlack doesn’t ask manufacturers to compromise, and in many applications, it outperforms. The market is getting its answer and we’re proud to partner with Continental.”
BolderBlack is ISCC PLUS certified, supporting chain-of-custody traceability, mass balance verification, and alignment with global sustainability standards. The documentation is increasingly essential as downstream manufacturers and regulators require stronger proof of material origin, emissions impacts, and circular content claims. The material is also backed by independent lifecycle assessments confirming its emissions profile against virgin production benchmarks.
As industrial customers translate sustainability commitments into supply chain specifications, the demand for qualified, traceable circular materials is accelerating. This partnership demonstrates that the shift from circularity claims to circularity proof is already underway in production, at scale, and in applications where performance is not optional.