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Engineers and scientists all over the world are challenged by the waste problem on horizon. An engineer who claims to have a solution is Michael Vainer, inventor and founder of Polymeric Powders Company. According to the magazine, he has been trying to develop solutions for tire waste for more than a decade and a half. New rubber devulcanization technology Michael Vainer is an engineer looking at how to solve end-of-life tire problem. While Vainer’s company website reveals few details, he is known to have conducted a lot of research and holding many patents. Vainer company Polymeric Powders’ process takes in raw materials from tire shredders, applies thermal processing followed by a cracking process, then combines the resulting powders with common plastics. The resulting composite material is provided as masterbatch pellets for injection molding or extrusion, or as filament for 3D printing.

Episode 21 of the Tyre Recycling Podcast features Jon Visaisouk from Canadian Tyromer – a successful devulcanization company who also expanded its operations to Europe

Since it was founded in 1962, Maris, a manufacturer of co-rotating twin-screw extruders, has claimed one of the leading positions in the research of new state-of-the-art applications for its products. With the aim of providing its customers with the widest range of choices, every mechanical component of Maris’ extruders are entirely in-house manufactured. Maris says it’s one of the few companies in the world able to <b>customize its co-rotating twin-screw extruders according to its customers’ specific needs and this is true also when it comes to rubber devulcanization</b>. Rubber devulcanization is a selective breaking process of an elastomer S-S and C-S bonds, which produces only a limited degradation of the polymeric structure (C-C bond).

A Dutch investment portal “Invest in Holland” says that a Canada-based company Tyromer is now building a pilot factory in Arnhem to bring its circular rubber products to the European market. Specializing in the devulcanization of rubber from scrap tires, Tyromer will fine-tune and exhibit its recycling technology at its new Dutch facility in order to sell the process to third parties. The company is one of the first in the Netherlands to give this hard-to-process residual product a high-quality new life, making it a valuable addition to the Dutch circular economy.

According to Global Rubber Markets, an online magazine devoted to virgin and recycled rubber, a tire processing plant is expected to be constructed in Scotland. The project, reportedly, is the first of its kind in the UK, and it is expected to solve Scotland’s end-of-life tire problem and create over 100 jobs for the local area. A notice of pre-application has been submitted to Renfrewshire council, informing planners of the intent to build a ground-breaking tire processing plant in Linwood (Renfrewshire), Scotland.

e-RubberCon is an international conference organized by the French Association of Rubber and Polymer Engineers (AFICEP) under the auspices of the International Rubber Conference Organization (IRCO) which AFICEP is a member of. As its name suggests, the conference is devoted to problems of rubber industry, including rubber and tire recycling, as this year its main motive is “Environment and Recycling: A Strategic Challenge for Rubber Materials.” This year, Robert Weibold – a tire recycling and pyrolysis expert from Vienna, Austria – speaks at e-RubberCon about “Challenges, trends and opportunities for end-of-life tires from a French perspective”. If you would like to connect with Robert Weibold, please send your inquiry at sales@weibold.com.

In its recent semi-annual report, the China Rubber Industry Association (CRIA) announced updated guidelines for the development of rubber industry for the next five years. The guidelines, among others, set goals for rubber recycling and material recovery from end-of-life rubber and tires. Some of the goals related to end-of-life tire rubber and carbon black are described below: Carbon black Annual production by 2025: -6.08 million tons of carbon black -1.75 million tons white carbon black Other goals: -Energy consumption standards met by 80% companies; exhaust cogeneration employed at 90% companies

Versalis, a chemical company owned by Eni, and one of the world’s leaders in the production and marketing of elastomers has signed an agreement with AGR, a company that owns technology for the devulcanization of post-consumer elastomers. Together, Versalis and AGR are going to develop technological innovations and new products and applications from recycled end-of-life tire rubber. Devulcanization is process of selectively breaking chemical bonds that transforms objects in solid rubber, usually granulated, into a workable and moldable form, ready to be reused in the production of new products, such as tires or gaskets.

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.