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Attempting to cut costs while launching a tire recycling or pyrolysis business, companies often fall prey to low-quality equipment manufacturers whose equipment does not fulfill to their promises. Typically, such a low quality equipment has far more attractive prices and very often comes from countries, where labor and material costs are still very low. Although seemingly benefitting its buyer through low initial capital investment, such equipment can kill a young pyrolysis company or seriously undermine its operation. In this article Weibold focuses on issues of low-priced pyrolysis machinery and sheds light on the most common problems occurring with such pyrolysis equipment suppliers.

The chemical recycling of end-of-life tires (ELT) via state-of-the-art pyrolysis technologies does not only avoid greenhouse gas emissions compared to today’s conventional production processes, but it also increases the resource efficiency while closing the loop in the transition to a circular economy. However, civil organisations criticise the production of fuel through chemical recycling, sometimes mutilate the terminology, pointing to the associated environmental impacts, while they overlook the fact that modern ELT pyrolysis concepts are not geared towards the production of "fuels" (which, by the way, should not be defined as "recycling" but rather as less preferred "recovery" according to the EU waste hierarchy).

In our last article (Part I) we addressed the question of how the advantages of a classic batch-reactor process design can be combined with those of a continuous process mode. In the current article (Part II) we address some characteristics and advantages of a batch reactor regarding the thermochemical reactions and their effects on the end products. We refer to the extensive scientific literature and to the findings of successful companies in the industry.

Attempting to cut costs while launching a tire recycling or pyrolysis business, young companies often fall prey to low-quality equipment manufacturers whose equipment does not correspond to their promises. Typically, such a low quality equipment has far more attractive prices and very often it comes from Asian countries, where labor costs are still very low. Despite the low price, such an equipment can kill a young pyrolysis company or significantly undermine it’s operation. In this article Weibold focuses on issues of low-priced pyrolysis machinery and sheds light on the most common problems occurring with pyrolysis equipment suppliers from the Far East.

According to the article by The News International, Environment Protection Agency (EPA) has drafted guidelines to regularise pyrolysis plants presently operating across the Punjab province without any legal cover. Sources in EPA revealed that during the recent smog season strict action was taken against these plants and many were demolished and sealed either by the District Administration or by the EPA. Presently, majority of the pyrolysis plants operating in the province used to dispose off used tyres and extract carbon, wires and low quality furnace oil, which were sold in the open market.

Pyrum Innovations AG, a leading player in tire pyrolysis, has successfully installed two pyrolysis reactors for its production lines 2 and 3 at its main plant in Dillingen/Saar. This marks a significant milestone in the expansion of the plant and represents the first step towards increasing the recycling capacity of the facility. The CEO of Pyrum Innovations, Pascal Klein, stated that despite various challenges, such as supply chain disruptions, the chip shortage, and the impact of COVID-19, the company expects to complete the expansion on schedule.

By its nature, tire recycling and pyrolysis are capital-intensive businesses which require rather big investments to lay a foundation of successful production. The industry is constantly changing. Existing markets are under threat, other markets emerge. More than ever it is important to facilitate and support R&D efforts. Associations and businesses around the world work hard to protect existing and build new markets for the industry by developing new value-added products from the main output materials of the industry – recycled rubber granulates (crumb rubber), pyrolytic fuel oil and recovered carbon black (rCB).

Pyrum Innovations AG (Pyrum) together with the recycling company REMONDIS have announced the starting signal for planning a Pyrum plant for recycling used tires. A letter of intent was recently signed for this purpose. The plant will be located on a site owned by Weserport in Bremen, a subsidiary of REMONDIS sister company Rhenus. It will have a recycling capacity of 20,000 tons of old tires per year, from which the raw material carbon black will be recovered.

On December 12, OMV the integrated energy, fuels & feedstock, and chemicals & materials company headquartered in Vienna, Austria, and Synthos, the biggest synthetic rubber producer in Europe with a global reach, announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). Under the MoU, the two companies will cooperate on sustainability, focusing in particular on the supply of sustainable raw materials that can be used to manufacture high-performance tires. This step underlines both companies’ commitment to a circular economy by using bio-based and circular feedstocks, underpinning their mass-balance approach to manufacture essential products in everyday life.