April 25, 2025: Carbon additives group Birla Carbon has received an environmental award related to emissions control at its North Bend plant in the US.
Birla said on April 17 that it had been honoured as the judges’ choice winner in the environmental impact project category at the 2025 Environment+Energy Leader Awards.
At North Bend, Birla implemented an innovative emission control project designed to effectively reduce sulphur dioxide (SO₂) emissions while enhancing environmental efficiency.
Traditional flue gas desulfurization technologies typically involve processes that require additional resources and by-products requiring additional handling.
However, Birla said its forward-thinking approach uses the natural alkalinity of seawater from the adjacent Gulf Intercoastal Waterway to neutralize sulphur compounds, converting them into naturally occurring salts that are safely returned to the ocean — eliminating the need for additional chemicals and minimizing waste.
Key project achievements include a 95% annual reduction in SO₂ emissions, avoidance of around 1.44 million pounds of gypsum waste disposal per week and lower greenhouse gas emissions by reducing transportation and disposal requirements.
Dale Clark, chief manufacturing officer for the Americas and EMEA regions said the North Bend project set a new benchmark for innovation in emission reduction and represented a significant step toward sustainable manufacturing.
Birla has developed a range of performance conductive additives that are designed to improve the energy density, power density, and charging speed of lithium and lead acid batteries.
Batteries International reported in 2022 that Birla had raised $50 million in the form of a ‘green loan’ to refinance a part of the capital expenditure incurred for tackling emissions at North Bend.
CEO John Loudermilk said then that the state-of-the-art absorber technology initiative demonstrated the group’s commitment towards using the best available technologies for sustainable manufacturing of carbon black products.
