News: Tire Recycling & Pyrolysis

Tyre and Road Wear Particles (TRWP) are tiny debris which are formed during normal driving conditions from the friction between the tyre and the road necessary to ensure sufficient grip and safety. Because of their size and composition, these particles are commonly associated with microplastics; yet the generation of TRWP is influenced by a variety of external factors including, but not limited to, tyre design, such as vehicle characteristics, road surface, weather, road topology and driving behaviour.

One of the first tire manufacturers in China to start recycling, reusing, and repurposing tires is ZC Rubber. In order to perform rubber recycling and reuse tires, the company created its Recycling Technology and Service Center in 2005, which marked the beginning of its tire recycling adventure. To forward their goals for tire recycling, ZC Rubber formally created Zhongce Recycling Technology Co., Ltd in 2009.

CTS Tyre Recycling from Western Australia has marked the beginning of a major change towards sustainability in the company's history. CTS had a great turn out at its ground breaking ceremony the 12th August with State Environment Minister Reece Whitby MLA and federal MP Josh Wilson in attendance.

Enviro – a Swedish tire pyrolysis operator and equipment supplier – report they are currently in an intense phase of scaling up the industrialisation of its tire pyrolysis technology. The company’s expansion plan is gradually being implemented, with the aim of establishing recycling capacity of a total of 900,000 tonnes of end-of-life tyres by 2030.

With an emphasis on recycling used tires, the Caribbean Industrial Research Institute (CARIRI) and the University of Trinidad and Tobago (UTT) have partnered. The newly established Rubber Crumb Project was agreed upon by both organizations, and the agreement was signed on the UTT Chaguanas campus. Three million tires on average are imported into Trinidad and Tobago each year, according to CARIRI. This project is projected to address environmental issues brought on by the pollution of around 1.5 million scrap tires across the nation because there are few options for disposing of or recycling tires currently accessible.

Pyrum Innovations AG (Pyrum), a pioneer in the sustainable recycling of end-of-life tyres (ELT) based on its patented pyrolysis technology, has for the first time obtained a determination of the CO2 savings of its pyrolysis process as part of a "Life Cycle Assessment" (LCA, eco balance) by the Fraunhofer Institute for Environmental, Safety and Energy Technology. The results once again demonstrate the unique and sustainable efficiency of the Pyrum technology. Compared to the use of fossil raw materials, Pyrum’s process saves 747 kg CO2 equivalent per tonne of ELT; if the use of the waste heat produced is included, as Pyrum is already applying, even 965 kg CO2 equivalent are saved per tonne of ELT.

Episode 36 of The Tyre Recycling Podcast features the CEO of a Swedish Tire Recycler Assosiation, SDAB or Svensk Däckåtervinning AB, Fredrik Ardefors. Ardefors spoke to Tyre & Rubber Recycling about the latest goings on with SDAB from rubber granulation to energy recovery to new tyre recycling facilities.</

Independent review of Australia’s Tyre Product Stewardship Scheme to start wide industry and community consultation on sustainable value going forward. An independent review of the national Tyre Product Stewardship Scheme, administered by Tyre Stewardship Australia, shows commendable work has delivered public benefit at small cost to the economy but that the Scheme has reached a turning point.

Every year, approximately 150 million tires are processed for recycling in Europe. This rubber from recycled tires has several useful applications, including being a crucial component of the artificial turf used in playgrounds, football fields, and road construction. The European Recycling Industries Federation (EuRIC), the Spanish Federation for Recovery and Recycling (FER), and the Collective Management System for End-of-Life Tyres in Spain (SIGNUS) have all issued statements warning of the significant consequences of the European Commission's proposal to ban the use of rubber crumb, a byproduct of tyres that have reached the end of their useful lives, on artificial turf fields without taking into account alternative, equally effective policies with less negative environmental effects.