News: Tire Recycling & Pyrolysis

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.

On Spetember 10 2020, Tyre Stewardship Australia Limited proudly announced the release of the Low Traffic Crumb Rubber Road Fund (LTCRRF), aimed at encouraging the use of Crumb Rubber (CR) in low traffic asphalt roads across Australia. This fund, open to Local Councils and other eligible organisations, is to support these entities to: – Install, upgrade, or maintain low traffic roads with CR asphalt – Implement the new Victorian specifications – Progress the development of low traffic road specifications in other states and territories around Australia

The Tire and Rubber Association of Canada has recently announced the appointment of Carol Hochu as incoming President & CEO. Ms. Hochu brings a lifetime of experience and successful track record of leading Canadian associations and non-profit organizations. Most recently, she led the Canadian Plastics Industry Association as President and CEO for nearly a decade, and prior to that she served as Executive Director of the Ontario Electronic Stewardship. As an accomplished association executive, in all her past roles Ms. Hochu served as a passionate industry advocate who successfully raised industry profiles and advanced important industry issues with key stakeholders, influencers, and government; and she expertly navigates all aspects of association management, including government, member and public relations.

On September 9 2020, Ministry of Education and Research of Germany reported about its newly launched innovation forum “End-of-Life Tire Recycling”. The project is funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research within the framework of the “SME Innovation Forums” funding guidelines. The aim is to initiate an interdisciplinary network from business and science in the field of innovation. The ultimate goal of the initiative is to facilitate dismantling the mountain of used tires in the country and continue to fully recycle old rubber and tires, even in a rapidly changing market.

The first seven months of 2020 has witnessed an 8.9% year-over-year (y/y) fall in the world production and a 14.0% y/y fall in world consumption of natural rubber. Based on preliminary estimates available up to July 2020 from individual countries, and anticipated figures for the rest of the year, the world production in the year 2020 is anticipated at 13.149 million tons, down 4.9% from the previous year. This is slightly lower than the outlook for 2020 reported in July 2020 which was 13.195 million tons, down 4.5% from the previous year. The outlook for world consumption in 2020 is scaled down to 12.544 million tons or down 8.9 % from the previous year. The consumption outlook for 2020 as reported in July 2020 was 12.754 million tons, down 7.3% from the previous year.