News: Tire Recycling & Pyrolysis

eTracks Tire Management Systems – end-of-life tire management organization in Ontario, Canada – successfully completed its first year of operations under Ontario’s new end-of-life tire regulation and Individual Producer Responsibility (IPR) model. To commemorate the milestone, eTracks announced several Awards of Excellence in appreciation of our suppliers’ invaluable help in achieving a seamless transition under the new recycling framework.

The level of end-of-life tire recycling in Germany marked a new record high last year, as reported by the German rubber manufacturers association (WDK). Numbers recently published by WDK show that some 251 kilotons of end of life tires were processed into granulates and rubber crumbs in 2019, up 6% compared to the year before. The secondary raw materials are used to manufacture technically high-quality products, a proof that “the recycling of used tires works,” said WDK technical director Stephan Rau in a 26 Aug statement. The total amount of used tires in 2019 fell 2% year-on-year to 571 kilotons, which according to Rau, shows that a trend towards durable tires is continuing in the country.

This September, Atlantic Wind and Solar announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, KB Industries (KBI) received notice that the firm has been selected as one of five manufacturers worldwide for inclusion into a State of California sponsored testing and evaluation program, as reported by Business Insider. The program is offered under the California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) Feedstock Conversion Technical Assistance and Material Testing Services (FCS) and will evaluate and test a new KBI – engineered product designed as a better retaining wall for erosion control. These programs are designed to expand the demand for differentiated and higher value-added tire-derived products by providing an incentive to use at least five percent of California recycled tire rubber to partially replace virgin rubber, EPDM, plastic, or other raw material. and increase the sale of products that already contain crumb rubber. Some of the engineering tests that will be done will include horizontal pressure load limits, sound absorption characteristics, and maximum vertical wall loading.

Tire pyrolysis company Pyrolyx A.G. has delisted from the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) as well as the Dusseldorf and Frankfurt stock markets following a prolonged closure of its processing plants in the U.S. and Germany. In a trading update, Pyrolyx said it had delisted from ASX following "failure to pay its annual listing fees by the due date." In addition, the company said it had notified German markets on Aug. 21 about delisting and said it expected the delisting to be effective by the end of that month.

The Tyre Recovery Association (TRA) in the United Kingdom reports that this autumn could bring with it a new rash of end-of-life tyre dumping and site abandonment. Several factors are in play at this present time which the public, UK’s regulators and the tyre trade itself should be aware, according to the TRA. First and foremost ‘gate’ prices – typical amount charged by end-of-life tyre recyclers and others to accept old tyres from those providing a collection-only service – have almost doubled since the start of the year as market conditions have hardened, indications are that they will remain at these new levels.

The UK’s Tyre Recovery Association (TRA) reports that the announcement by the Environment Agency that it has approved a new time-limited Regulatory Position Statement (RPS 238) allowing enhanced materials storage at dockside has been widely welcomed by TRA members. The RPS will permit up to 5000 tons of PAS107-processed and compliant material to be stored portside in secure conditions prior to bulk loading and shipment primarily for use as tyre-derived fuel overseas.

BASF SE – one of the largest producers and marketers of chemicals and related products in the world – is to invest €16 million into a German pyrolysis operator Pyrum Innovations AG – a technology company specialized in the pyrolysis of end-of-life tires, headquartered in Dillingen/Saar, Germany – as part of its ChemCycling™ project, which aims at sourcing pyrolysis oil from end-of-life tires as additional raw material source next to oil from mixed plastic waste.

Authorities in Australia have warned land and property owners about illegal actions of scammers in which thousands of end-of-life tires were illegally dumped at leased properties, leaving one victim with a huge clean-up bill. ABC News reports that the scam involves offenders approaching businesses which have stockpiles of end-of-life tires and offering to dispose of them at far cheaper rates than legitimate tire recyclers. They then dump the scrap tires at properties they have leased, such as storage lockers, vacant land lots and backyards of rented homes.

The National Waste and Recycling Council (NWRIC) of Australia reports that there has been a public exposure of a huge tyre stockpile in Brisbane, Queensland, highlighting the shortcomings of existing government regulations and loopholes in the voluntary Tyre Stewardship Australia Scheme as to preventing potentially hazardous end-of-life tyre stockpiles. NWRIC CEO Rose Read said the stockpile was an example of how public confidence in tyre recycling schemes and payment of waste levies could be undermined.