News: Tire Recycling & Pyrolysis

Continental has introduced its most sustainable tire yet, the UltraContact NXT, which combines a high proportion of renewable, recycled, and certified materials with excellent safety and performance. According to Continental, it is the first tire on the market to achieve both a high share of sustainable materials and the highest EU tire-label performance. All 19 available sizes of the UltraContact NXT have received the highest rating ("A") in rolling resistance, wet braking, and exterior noise on the EU tire label. The UltraContact NXT contains up to 65% renewable, recycled, and mass balance certified materials, depending on the tire size. Renewable materials make up to 32% of the tire, including resins derived from residual materials from the paper and wood industries, as well as silica extracted from rice husks.

The Tire and Rubber Association of Canada (TRAC) announced its new Board of Directors following its Annual General Meeting of members held on June 14, 2023. At that meeting, the members elected Lawrence Kumar of Yokohama Tire (Canada) as a new Director. Based in Langley, B.C., Mr. Kumar has over two decades of experience in the tire industry and is currently the Controller at Yokohama Tire (Canada). “We welcome Lawrence to the TRAC Board. His business experience and knowledge are sure to be of great value to TRAC in the coming years,” says Paul Downey, President and CEO of Pliteq, and TRAC Chair of the Board.

The Resource Productivity and Recovery Authority (RPRA) – Canadian end-of-life tire management authority – has recently posted the 2022 Annual Report. In 2022 RPRA focused on scaling up its producer responsibility programs, developing registry portals, and launching new compliance and digital reporting programs, all of which are central to RPRA’s mandate. 2022 was the fourth year of operations for the Tires Program under Ontario’s producer responsibility regulatory framework outlined in the Tires Regulation.

The Tire and Rubber Association of Canada (TRAC) has recognized outstanding individuals and businesses for their dedication and commitment to excellence in the tire and rubber industry including end-of-life (ELT) tire management and other businesses focused on sustainability. The Awards Ceremony took place following the Association’s Annual General Meeting on June 14, 2023, at the Alt Hotel Toronto Airport in Mississauga. The 2023 Industry Leadership Awards recognized leadership in the following categories: Leader of the Year, Lifetime Achievement, Sustainability, and Young Leader.

Bridgestone Corporation recently announced that it has commenced the production of tire derived oil and recovered carbon black through pyrolysis of used tires using test units installed at Bridgestone Innovation Park in Kodaira City, Tokyo. This initiative is aimed at promoting the social implementation of chemical recycling technologies that enable precise pyrolysis of used tires. The scope of this initiative is indicated by the red frame in the chemical recycling diagram below. This project is one of two R&D projects that are part of an initiative for developing chemical product manufacturing technologies utilizing used tires promoted by the New Energy and Industrial Technology Development Organization (NEDO) of Japan

Contec S.A. – a company that specializes in producing sustainable raw materials by upcycling end-of-life tires – has successfully secured a total of EUR 15 million in funding this year. The largest Polish manufacturer of steel roofing and facades – Pruszyński – has contributed an additional EUR 5 million to the funds already provided by VINCI and the Warsaw Equity Group. These two entities had initially invested EUR 10 million in Contec back in March 2023. The investment will be used to triple the capacity of Contec’s current facility in Szczecin, Poland, and to position the company for the construction of several new commercial plants across Europe. This will support Contec's mission to accelerate the transformation of the manufacturing industry toward carbon neutrality.

Prism Worldwide (Prism) – a clean technology company – recently announced the commercial availability of AncoraTM C-1000 Thermoplastic Elastomer (TPE). Based on Prism’s patented technology, Ancora™ C-1000 contains a minimum of 50% post-consumer recycle content derived from end-of-life tires while maintaining the look, feel and processing of a typical petrochemically derived TPE. Ancora TPEs are a new class of TPE compounds utilizing polymers derived from end-of-life tires manufactured with Prism Worldwide’s patented PrismTM process.

Episode 51 of the Tyre Recycling Podcast features Patrick Buder, Sustainability Strategy Manager at Zeppelin Systems GmbH. In this podcast, Ewan Scott interviews Zeppelin representative to discuss their groundbreaking initiative: the Sustainable Tire Alliance. Discover how this collaboration is transforming the tyre recycling industry, fostering cross-sector partnerships, and driving sustainability. Learn about their goals, strategies, and the future of tyre recycling.

According to the latest press release by Audi Hungaria Zrt., as a result of the company’s collaboration with New Energy Kft., from now on, tire waste generated at the site of Audi Hungaria in Győr will be chemically recycled, thereby avoiding the release of microplastics and the hazardous substances that leach from them into the environment during recovery. The process used for this is pyrolysis, in which tire waste is chemically converted into oil. The oil produced is used by petrochemical companies to produce new plastics, while the resulting recovered carbon black (rCB) is utilized in tire production. The gases produced during pyrolysis are used to generate the high temperatures needed for the process.