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Schwalbe has started a pilot project to create an innovative bicycle tire recycling technology in conjunction with Pyrum Innovations AG and the Technische Hochschule Köln - University of Applied Sciences.

In the most recent Tyre & Rubber Recycling Podcast, Michelin and Bridgestone's Call to Action received a good response. Tyre & Rubber Recycling's editor Ewan Scott met with a number of pyrolysis operators and inventors after the Smithers rCB Conference to find out what they anticipated the impact will be on their industry. The 28th episode of the podcast features video comments from Thomas Sorensson from Enviro, as well as feedback from Rob Harper from CIRCTEC and Pascal Klein from Pyrum Innovations. It also features video links with Jens Elton Andersen of Windspace and Henrik Selstam of Wastefront, both of whom have large-scale start-up aspirations.

The BlackCycle consortium organized a workshop with 120 worldwide industry leaders, legislators, academics, H2020 project coordinators, and institutional representatives at the Michelin technical center in Ladoux, France, close to the end of November 2021. The workshop's goal was to explore and share ideas about how to implement a circular economy in Europe. BlackCycle stated during the event that it has created the world's first sustainable carbon blacks (sCB) for use in tire applications in a carbon black furnace reactor using oils derived from the pyrolysis of end-of-life tires. The cyclical process that BlackCycle intends to implement is the creation of this sustainable material from end-of-life tires.

Pyrum Innovations AG (Pyrum), a pioneer in the sustainable recycling of end-of-life tires based on its patented pyrolysis technology, has begun expanding the production capacity of its pyrolysis plant at the company's headquarters in Dillingen/Saar. As of October 2021, the plant consists of one production line, which has been operating on an industrial scale since May 2020, producing pyrolysis oil, recovered carbon black (rCB) and pyrolysis gas from more than 7,000 tons of end-of-life tires during this period. The addition of two more production lines will triple processing capacity to approximately 20,000 tons of end-of-life tires per year. Excavation work for the foundations has already begun on the plant site. In addition, key components of the new plants have been ordered on a binding basis.

State-of-the-art pyrolysis processes are an efficient, viable and sustainable approach for the valorisation of end-of-life tires (ELT) into oil, gas and recovered Carbon Black (rCB). They are thus an important step towards the transition to a low carbon, more sustainable, resource efficient, circular economy in line with the EU Green Deal and the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

Pyrum Innovations AG ("Pyrum"), a pioneer in the sustainable recycling of end-of-life tires based on its patented pyrolysis technology, has received the first delivery of end-of-life bicycle tires by Ralf Bohle GmbH in connection with the planned cooperation of both companies. With its Schwalbe brand and a turnover of EUR 225 million (2020), Ralf Bohle GmbH ("Bohle") is Europe's market leader for bicycle tires and inner tubes. In September, Pyrum and Bohle had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), the objective of which is the long-term operation, expansion and further development of a feedstock recycling system for end-of-life bicycle tires by means of pyrolysis. At the same time, the aim is to use the recovered carbon black (rCB) resulting from the recycling of end-of-life tires as an ecological secondary raw material in the production of new Schwalbe products.

In total, over 9,000 votes were cast across the 18 awards categories that were open to the public vote, with significant engagement in the voting process being received from all corners of the globe. David Wilson, Managing Director of Valebridge Media Services, commented; “We were delighted to see such a high level of international participation in this first edition of the Recircle Awards, and we’d like to thank the readers of Retreading Business and Tyre & Rubber Recycling for helping to make this project into a such a globally inclusive event.”

Despite hard efforts of the tire recycling and pyrolysis industry to develop new markets and increase recycling rates, recycled rubber based product markets demonstrate only moderate growth. To tackle the problem and allow thousands of tons of precious materials go back to consumer goods, numerous end-of-life tire management organizations, companies and research labs do their best to find new markets and develop innovative products out of scrap tire rubber.

According to expert opinion in the tire recycling industry, BlackCycle – the research project coordinated by Michelin – can revolutionize end-of-life tire recycling worldwide. This opinion was voiced by experts during a meeting of the Bureau of International Recycling (BIR) at its Tires & Rubber Committee on October 15, 2020. There was tangible excitement at the BIR Tyres & Rubber Committee webinar on October 15 following a guest presentation on the recycling of end-of-life tires (ELTs) into secondary raw materials for tires and other product applications.