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On November 13-14, 2019, Weibold’s team attended the biennial Latin American Tire Recycling Conference in Mexico’s Queretaro – a conference uniting industry’s key figures and researchers in the field of end-of-life tire recycling and pyrolysis. This event is considered one of the most important for the tire recycling sector in the region, according to the Latin American Conference official website, and is held as part of the larger XV Latin American Conference on Rubber Technology.

On June 9, the Tyre and Rubber Recycling magazine published an article about the European Chemical Agency recommending restrictions on crumb rubber. The Magazine highlights that it is not usually given to speculation on leaks, but this is a case where Tyre and Rubber Recycling feels a need to highlight an issue. The material below contains citations from the article by Ewan Scott. Please read the original version here.

*** Webinar recording inside *** The webinar "Upgrading Tire Pyrolysis Oils for Fuels and Chemicals Applications" was held by Topsoe on February 28. The high participation (200+ attendees) shows that the tire pyrolysis industry is interested in innovative technology solutions for upgrading pyrolysis oil.

The third scientific AZuR Colloquium took place on October 10, 2024, on the Jülich campus of the Aachen University of Applied Sciences (FH Aachen) with high participation. Forty scientists from various universities, institutes, and disciplines came together to discuss current research findings and projects related to the sustainable reuse and recycling of end-of-life tires. The agenda included workshops, discussion panels, and keynote presentations on topics such as the pyrolytic utilization of end-of-life tire granulate, the use of old rubber granulates in flood protection, and the future of recovered carbon black (rCB) as a sustainable filler.

Valebridge Media Services (VMS), the international media services company in Crewe (United Kingdom) and Madrid (Spain), has announced the shortlist of nominees for the 2023 edition of the Recircle Awards, the event organised to promote and recognise sustainable innovation, production processes, management and services in the tire retreading and recycling sector. The shortlist, chosen from a preliminary list of candidates nominated by the public has once again been compiled by the Recircle Awards Nominations Committee made up of 14 experts, including respected tire industry journalists, industry association heads and independent consultants from around the world.

Just in February 2023, the Joint Research Council (JRC) of the European Commission [1] published their study results on the environmental and economic factors of chemical recycling (pyrolysis) and energy recovery of end-of-life tires (ELT). The result of this study in advance: chemical recycling via ELT pyrolysis - including mechanical recycling for feedstock processing - is a more sustainable option for managing ELTs than energy recovery via incineration. Revisiting a decades-old knowledge Already in 2010, a much-cited Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) found pyrolysis to be the most eco-effective ELT treatment technology, followed by dynamic devulcanization and ambient grinding. [2] These results were confirmed in 2015 by a Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) study showing that substituting primary resources with pyrolysis products from ELTs provides significant environmental savings. [3]

Pyrolysis, an advanced chemical recycling route for End-of-Life Tires (ELT), is experiencing a boom in the last few years. As seen objectively, there is no one best design and/or process mode. Different options can be considered depending on the local circumstances and/or targeted product yields and qualities. While only a small portion of global ELT arisings (31 million tons per year) are currently finding their way to thermochemical decomposition, recent developments are showing strong signs of promising opportunities.

The best available technology (BAT) is the technology approved by legislators or regulators for meeting output standards for a particular process. BAT for a given industrial sector is described in reference documents called BREFs (Best Available Techniques Reference documents). BREFs are the result of an exchange of information between European Union Member States, the industries concerned, non-governmental organizations promoting environmental protection and the European Commission. This exchange of information is referred to as the Sevilla process because it is steered within the Institute for Prospective Technological Studies of the European Commissions' Joint Research Centre, which is based in Seville. The process is codified into law by Commission Implementing Decisions. The most important chapter of the BREFs, the BAT conclusions, are published as implementing decisions of the European Commission in the Official Journal of the European Union. According to the Industrial Emissions Directive (IED), the BAT conclusions shall be the reference for setting permit conditions of (large) industrial installations.

In this article, Weibold highlights the ways tire recycling industry can adapt to future changes. It also analyses established and new solutions to reduce the need for inter-continental end-of-life tire trading. As a recycling industry we have a particular responsibility to help reduce CO2 emissions.