News: Tire Recycling & Pyrolysis

In the recent press release by Tyre Stewardship Australia, the organization tells its success story as it has been recognised as best practice product stewardship in Australia TSA writes that consumers can now demand their used tyres go to genuine recyclers as the Australian Government lends support to Tyre Stewardship Australia’s National Tyre Product Stewardship Scheme (TPSS). On Monday, the tyre scheme was recognised as best practice product stewardship by the federal Government as part of the Product Stewardship Centre of Excellence. The accreditation was further bolstered by significant funding to increase resource recovery associated with the Off-the-road sector and expanding the TPSS to include conveyor belts.

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.”

Leicestershire County Council reported on March 10, 2021 that recycled and carbon-friendly products had been used where possible in bypass improvements in Blaby and Market Harborough in the county. The authority reports that is is now on the road with its bid to become cleaner and greener – by using recycled and carbon friendly products in its highway improvements. Around 5000 recycled tires have been used in a special asphalt mix used on the A426 Blaby bypass – and the white lines on one side of the carriageway have been marked out using a cold plastic product which is said to last three times longer than the traditional products used.

ASTM International – a standardization body introducing key definitions of products and materials with over 12,800 ASTM standards already in work worldwide – recently published their first standard relating to recovered Carbon Black (rCB). The ASTM Committee D36 on Recovered Carbon Black (rCB) was founded in 2017 to support the emerging rCB industry regarding the quality and safety of their products. Several sub-committees are responsible for developing standards for terminology, guidance, practices, and testing methods. Recovered Carbon Black, typically derived from the thermal degradation of end-of-life tires, is a relatively new, sustainable raw material product for use in rubber, plastics, and pigment applications.

The University of Botswana (UB) in collaboration with local company Sky Scene unveiled rubber pavers made from recycled tires in Gaborone, as reported by XinhuaNet, a Chinese online magazine. Speaking during the unveiling ceremony, David Norris, UB Vice Chancellor, said he was very delighted that the partnership had led to finding solutions to real problems faced by the communities, industries and government. "The objective of the end-of-life tire recycling project is to reduce the accumulation of end-of-life tires by turning them into multiple useful products with profits," said Norris.

The British bicycle magazine BikeBiz reports that the National Bicycle Tyre Recycling Scheme in the UK now grew to 200 collection sites (“Velorim Centres”), across England, Scotland and Wales. The scheme is targeting 1,000 collection points by the end of 2021, the magazine says. Bike shops, hire-schemes, bike repair centres and retailers across the UK have signed up to recycle all their scrap tires and inner tubes with Velorim. Velorim CEO Dave Hawthorn stated: “We are truly delighted that such a large proportion of the cycle trade has embraced the scheme so enthusiastically. It is important though, that as many as possible do their part by joining the scheme, particularly as much of the down-stream recycling and reprocessing operations are volume-dependent. The more tires we collect – the more sustainable the whole scheme becomes.”

The European Recycling Industries’ Confederation (EuRIC) calls upon the Commission to strengthen its commitment to the Circular Economy. The news was originally published by the Recycling Magazine; please see the full article here. With the release of ECHA´s opinions on infill materials, now it is up to the Commission to take a decision on what measures to follow as regards this application.

The Ministry of Commerce and Industry has shut four tire recycling factories in Riyadh, Jeddah and Khamis Mushayt (Saudi Arabia) for violating quality and safety regulations, Arab News reports. Inspectors from the ministry and the Saudi Standards, Metrology and Quality Organization (SASO) conducted the inspections. Eight factories were warned to improve their processes in six months to avoid closure. The teams inspected 17 tire recycling factories in six cities and found that the end-of-life tires used for recycling were unfit for this purpose. The factories lacked the required machinery, technically qualified workers and a performance checking system.

The Shiban end-of-life tire recycling factory continues its production of mini rubber pellets of various sizes, as reported by Libya Herald. Reportedly, the factory has received much praise and won the 2020 SME Expo award for best SME project. The business relies 100 percent on local workforce and local raw materials – which was cited for its winning the prize. The factory is referred to as a local champion and an example for others budding local SMEs. It has also helped Libya’s major environmental headache of discarded end-pf-life tires which filled landfills or were incinerated. It is hoped that Libya can now implement similar projects for the country’s waste and end-of-life materials which are currently buried in landfills. A similar tire recycling plant also exists in Benghazi, the Libya Herald reports.