In July 2020, Tyre Recycling Solutions S.A. (TRS) of Préverenges, Switzerland and Asphalt Plus LLC, of Barrington, IL, USA announced signing a joint technology development and marketing agreement. This collaboration will permit the manufacture and sale of ElastikoTM Engineered Crumb Rubber (ECR) – a chemically engineered recycled tire rubber additive used in both paving and roofing applications – at TRS facilities for sale to global markets. The product will be marketed by TRS under the globally registered trademark TyreXol™

ElastikoTM ECR technology has been developed by Asphalt Plus, LLC since the early 2000s as a part of an engineered application system called “Dry Process Rubber.” ElastikoTM ECR has been used to modify millions of tons of asphalt mix in the US, and these modified mixes have been used on thousands of miles of heavy and medium traffic roads. TRS builds solutions for the processing and recycling of scrap tires through the development and implementation of innovative technologies. The company is deploying the technologies globally in a series of regional processing facilities. ElastikoTM ECR will allow TRS to vertically integrate their licensed tire recycling business by providing recycled rubber products to the asphalt paving and roofing markets.

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Rubberied Asphalt by Apshalt Plus | Photo by TRS.

Industries that recycle scrap tires are always under pressure to find sustainable markets for various forms of scrap tire residue. In those few markets that currently exist, low prices prevail because of excess supply and limited value of the recycled material. There has been a global effort to identify and develop markets for scrap tire rubber. Some of the potential markets include pyrolysis (converting tires into oil, synthetic gas, and carbon black), use of finely ground rubber as a feedstock in plastics manufacturing or in new tires, use of rubber aggregate in civil engineering applications and use of ground tire rubber in asphalt pavements. Each of those markets has the potential to consume very large amounts of scrap tires, but multiple efforts to develop those markets have seen so far limited success because of operational, quality and/or pricing issues.

Scrap tire rubber powder has been added to asphalt pavements for many years, but the methods used to introduce that recycled rubber into the asphalt mix were too difficult and too expensive for the paving industry. Over the past forty years, and despite the fact that the addition of recycled rubber makes pavements last longer, the market for rubber in asphalt never fully developed.

ECR additions make asphalt pavements more durable, and they are significantly less expensive than other additives commonly added to extend asphalt pavement life. This technology has been used in more than five million tons of asphalt mix placed on almost ten thousand miles of North American highways and streets. The product is easy to use and popular with industry. ECR pavements are field-tested and durable. As a result, ElastikoTM ECR has been adopted and specified by multiple US transportation agencies, and once specified, has been rapidly and deeply penetrating the paving market. In the eyes of the pavement industry, ElastikoTM ECR is a disruptive technology.

TRS and Asphalt Plus LLC are now working together to introduce and expand the ECR technology use in both Europe and Asia. More than five paving projects are already either scheduled or completed in Europe, with many more expected. This collaboration intends to significantly expand the consumption of scrap tire rubber by making better, less expensive roads. Large volume demand for scrap tire rubber will further improve financial performance for TRS-licensed recycling operations. More recycling of scrap tires will reduce potential environmental impacts from disposed scrap tires, helping to make tire manufacturing, scrap tire recycling and paving industries more sustainable.

For further information or to contact either company, please refer to the company websites:

Press release by TRS.