News: Tire Recycling & Pyrolysis

According to the latest Tyre Stewardship Australia’s press release, The Northern Territory (NT) government has announced its 2nd round of funding for the NT recycling modernization fund. The Federal and NT Government are co-investing $2.3 million to increase the Northern Territory’s capacity to recycle and repurpose glass, paper, carboard, plastics and end of life tires, allowing the creation of new value-added products. Under this fund, grants of at least $20,00 are available on a 50:50 co-contribution basis.

British Columbia's ocean cleanup workers, as they’re deconstructing what they are calling "tire island", are trying to determine how more than 2,000 end-of-life tires ended up on a remote Nelson Island (the Sunshine Coast of Canada) and why they were kept there for decades. They were discovered by an environmental project that was looking for areas that needed to be cleaned up, yet no one knows how they got to the island. The Ocean Legacy Foundation with Let's Talk Trash, Tire Stewardship BC, and Liberty Tire Recycling joined together to remove the tires from the island.

Bandvulc, the UK's renowned commercial retreader and now a part of the Continental Tire Group, has been recognised at this year’s Western Morning News Business Awards after being selected as a finalist for the Environmental and Sustainability Award. A finalist’s trophy was presented to the team during an exclusive awards ceremony in Exeter, which recognises innovative businesses from across Devon and Cornwall. To be in with a chance of winning the Environmental and Sustainability Award, judges sought out companies that were working to achieve an environmentally conscious operation. The businesses also needed to demonstrate that it had steps in place to reduce carbon emissions, implement sustainable working and maximise energy efficiency.

CM Shredders is known for designing and manufacturing some of the world’s most advanced industrial shredders and recycling systems. Headquartered for over 40 years in sunny Sarasota, Florida, USA, the company recently announced the successful commissioning of a new stand-alone version of the company’s popular Zero Waste Tire Wire Cleaning System. Sitting a few hours outside of Madrid, Spain, the EMRO tire recycling facility has been processing high volumes of tires for over 20 years. For the entirety of that time, CM Primary Shredders and Liberators have been the pride of EMRO’s stable, with those original workhorses still running in production.

South Korean waste treatment and raw material recycling company LD Carbon (CEO Baek, Seong-mun and Hwang, Yong-kyung) announced that it had signed an MOU with Japan’s Sumitomo Rubber Industries, Ltd. for the commercialization of sustainable tire raw materials. Sumitomo Rubber Industries is a global tire manufacturer head quartered in Japan, ranked global No.5 in terms of sales (approximately 7.25 billion USD) LD Carbon and Sumitomo Rubber Industries held a business agreement ceremony at the headquarters of Sumitomo Rubber Industries located in Kobe, Japan on November 18 and promised to cooperate in the commercialization of recovered carbon black and pyrolysis oil.

To harmonise enforcement in each EU Member State and check the current level of compliance regarding obligations imposed on industry by the REACH, CLP and PIC regulations, the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) installed a forum which coordinates various enforcement projects. One of the main projects are the REACH-EN-FORCE (REF) projects. The REF-projects are carried out by inspectors based in the national authorities in the participating Member States. The resulting information is collected by ECHA and the Forum Working Group. A final report on the findings of the REF-project is then produced. Ultimately, the goal of the REF-projects is to improve the quality of enforcement in the Member States but also to improve the compliance of registrants with the REACH, CLP, and PIC regulations.

Weibold's team was recently enriched by a Senior Pyrolysis Consultant with a vast experience in the end-of-life tire pyrolysis business – Henry Kim. Henry Kim is a business executive professional, Co-Founder and Former CEO of Anothen WTE, a tire pyrolysis company operating in South Korea. Henry has over 20 years of business development experience with expertise in all aspects of resources and renewable energy, as well as solid waste management projects. He has fully managed several sizable tire pyrolysis factories worldwide from construction to operations to financial assessment and contract negotiations. Today, Henry is a recognized authority on renewable energy, resource recovery such as rCB production, municipality incinerating and environmental technologies, including their applications and product sales markets.

Every year, millions of tons of rubber waste, including tires, reach the end of their lives and become a major environmental challenge. Disposing of end-of-life tires due to their quantity and durability is an environmental and economic problem. These tires are a toxic, hardly biodegradable material due to the cross-linked rubber structure and the presence of stabilisers and other additives. According to the Central Statistical Office (GUS) data from 2019, about 3.8 million tons of end-of-life car tires are accumulated in special landfills in Poland, and their number is still growing. Only 30% of tires are recycled in Poland, compared to 100% in Denmark and 60% in Portugal.

Fornnax – one of the World's leading manufacturer of shredding and recycling equipments with headquarters in India – has recently opened an all-new sales office that will focus on exports. “Our overseas commitments are increasing, leading us to open a sales office in the commercial hub of Ahmedabad (Gujarat) that is dedicated to international sales,” informed Jignesh Kundariya, Director, Fornnax Technology. Fornnax is currently concentrating on the markets in Australia and the Middle East. Companies like Tyre Collection and 7star Tyre PTY, both based in Australia, are already receiving equipment from Fornnax. Another important project, involving the shipping of an entire recycling plant to Mauritius, has already been completed.