News: Tire Recycling & Pyrolysis

Building on the success of last edition of summit, ACI announced that the 3rd European Carbon Black Summit will take place on 14th on 15th June 2023 in Frankfurt, Germany. To register for the Summit, ACI offers a special 15% discount up until 6 weeks prior to the event and 10% after that until the event's date to all Weibold’s subsribers available via the promo code “CCBe3MKTWeibold”. For further information or to register your attendance contact Rohan Baryah on rbayrah@acieu.net or +48 61 646 7022 quoting the promo code.

Australian surf brand Rip Curl has started an initiative to recycle used wetsuits in collaboration with TerraCycle, private U.S.-based recycling business headquartered in Trenton, New Jersey. Old and useless surfing wetsuits will be recycled as part of the Recycle Your Wetsuit program so that the materials obtained can be used to create soft rubber playground matting. In 2021, the program was initially introduced in Australia, and since then, it has also been promoted in the United States, France, Portugal, and Spain. Surfers in Australia have the option to recycle any surfing wetsuit at authorized stores either in-person or via mail. The Recycle Your Wetsuit program has now been expanded to reduce the impact of wetsuit waste.

Pyrum Innovations AG (Pyrum), a pioneer in the sustainable recycling of end-of-life tires (ELT) based on its patented pyrolysis technology, and Polyfuels Group AB intend to jointly build and operate four pyrolysis plants as part of a joint venture. Both companies have agreed on this in a letter of intent (LOI). The plants will be based on Pyrum technology and will be realised by Circular Tires AS, a wholly owned subsidiary of Polyfuels. Polyfuels Group AB is engaged in the collection and recycling of plastics, mixed plastics – both from industry and consumers - and chemical recycling projects with industrial partners.

European Commission asks the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) to assess potential risks in playgrounds. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in synthetic turf infill materials will be reviewed for potential risks by ECHA. The European Commission (EC) ordered the agency to analyze any dangers to children in a letter dated January 6 to ECHA executive director Sharon McGuinness. The study's scope includes loose mulches and granulated PAHs used in playgrounds, gardens and landscaping. According to the EC, the assessment's goal is to determine if the respective applicable concentration limits for eight PAHs found in infill materials are effective.

On March 21 – 23, 2023, Robert Weibold – the founder and managing director of Weibold – will attend the Tire Technology Expo 2023 in Hannover. Tire Technology Expo Conference brings together leading industry figures for three days of presentations, discussions and networking on the latest developments in tire manufacturing, scientific advances, sustainability and the global tire business. Show founder Tony Robinson says, “Thirty years after we launched the magazine, we have the privilege of running this expo for the 22nd time – and I think its significance is greater than ever. The complexities of the pandemic and its management in China have seen the exhibitions industry there come to a standstill for the last two years, wiping out one of the other annual opportunities for companies to present their technologies.”

In its latest press release, EuRIC reported that Europe’s recycling industries expressed dismay at the European Parliament’s adoption of current waste shipment proposals citing major inconsistencies undermining the trade of recycled materials. While the establishment of mandatory recycled content targets for plastics should be applauded, the failure to consider targets for metals and paper is a significant omission that will erode demand and subsequently green investment in new and upscaled recycling facilities in Europe. However, European recyclers were encouraged by the European Parliament’s support of existing proposals that facilitate the export of recycled materials within the EU, such as establishing English as the common language or extended time limits for receiving shipments.

Recently, Tire Industry Research and its CEO David Shaw – acknowledged industry expert with over 30 years’ experience at analysing and commenting on the global tire and rubber industry – published interesting analysis on tire & road wear particles (TRWP). Industry briefing on TRWP Because the issue of tire & road wear particles is now such a hot topic across the industry, Tire Industry Research has prepared some briefing notes on the subject. This was necessary because a lot of the commentary in the public domain contradicts the latest science and appears to be confusing – and possibly meant to confuse.

Irish Mirror magazine reports that Meath County Council is investigating the illegal dumping of over 3,000 end-of-life tires on private forest land near Longwood Village, about 25 km from Dublin. According to the magazine, the incident took place on Thursday, January 12, and Friday morning/night. The end-of-life tires would have been produced by tire manufacturers and/or fitters and dumped by 'unscrupulous waste collectors'. The is now expected to pay a hefty clean up fee of approximately €7,000 and the council is urging all private owners to secure their properties with gates and fences.

BHS-Sonthofen is a group of companies specializing in machinery and plant engineering with headquarters in Sonthofen, Germany. BHS-Sonthofen helps process engineering manufacturing companies increase their production output and to do so at a more efficient rate: the company uses its process engineering experience in the areas of mixing, crushing, recycling, filtration, drying and reaction to alter source materials in a way that will create added value for their customers. Recently BHS-Sonthofen announced that Daniel Zeiler has taken over as Vice President of the Recycling Technology division. He succeeds Alfred Weber, who successfully managed the sales of the Recycling Technology Business Unit since 2007 and retired at the end of last year.