On September 9 2020, Ministry of Education and Research of Germany reported about its newly launched innovation forum “End-of-Life Tire Recycling”. The project is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research within the framework of the “SME Innovation Forums” funding guidelines. The aim is to initiate an interdisciplinary network from business and science in the field of innovation. The ultimate goal of the initiative is to facilitate dismantling the mountain of used tires in the country and continue to fully recycle old rubber and tires, even in a rapidly changing market.

The entire project is divided into several phases. In order to document the goals and results transparently and to build up the network as quickly as possible, an online platform was established. The innovation forum can now be reached at www.azur-netzwerk.de. “The name AZuR comes from the idea of giving the forum the nickname “Allianz Future Tires”,” explains Yorick Lowin, Managing Director of the “Bundesverband Reifenhandel und Vulkaniseur-Handwerk eV (BRV)”. The association is the initiator of the project and would like to bring all stakeholders around tires to one table.

Overview of partners, working groups and milestones

The new page invites visitors to take an information tour. The goals, the different working groups and the previous milestones can be found clearly. All partners are also clearly shown, broken down according to their fields of activity. The "Secondary raw material used tires" area is now being set up. In the future, figures, data and facts as well as interesting specialist articles on the topic should be found on the website. The first information is already stored and as time goes on, a large knowledge database is expected to be built up there.

The network is currently under construction, which is why new companies and research institutions are welcomed by the organizers. All parties who recycle, process, buy up old tires and rubber or use their components and recyclates in any form can contact AZuR and find out more about a partnership. The first workshops are already planned for October, in which new members can also collaborate with each other directly.

End-of-life tire survey

With the launch of the website, the innovation forum for waste tire recycling also opens a survey on the current status of the industry. For one month, entrepreneurs, research institutions and all those involved with scrap tires and rubber can provide their input and thus facilitate diversity of topics. The results will also serve as a basis for discussion at the first planned workshops in October and November. If you want to take part in the survey, you can do so here: https://azur-netzwerk.de/umfrage/.

Article by AZuR.