News: Tire Recycling & Pyrolysis

In 2021, GENAN Ovar received the 2021 Environment Award (Premio Ambiente 2021) for modernizing, improving, and contributing to development of tire recycling industry in Portugal. Eduardo Gaspar, director of Automotive, presented the award to Rui Fernandes, plant manager of GENAN Ovar. The Fleet&Service Automobile Awards are given out based on the Magazine's internal criteria as well as the input of various market experts (stakeholders) throughout 2021, making it a significant milestone in the professional automotive sector in Portugal since 2017.

SIGNUS, the major Spanish EPR program, has announced an adjustment in the structure of tire categories in the pricing table, which was detailed by Gabriel Leal, the General Director, and Julián Madruga, the Director of Relationships with Affiliated Companies. SIGNUS tariffs have been structured based on the use of the tyre rather than its unit weight since its inception. This methodology allowed for subjective interpretations, producing market confusion. As a result, and in accordance with the notion of fairness, SIGNUS' Board of Directors has approved a reformulation of the categories based on weight sections of the new tyre in order to adjust the relevant tariff more objectively.

Tony Patti of OzTyre Recyclers is aiming to turn an end-of-life tire export ban in Australia into an opportunity, Waste Management Review magazine reports. He's set the wheels in motion for a better future with the support of Waste Initiatives. Tony Patti was taught as a "young bloke" that if you're going to recycle, you should be able to recycle a product into something else. OzTyre Recyclers, a family business, is "not there yet," but is well on its way.

North West Rubber Ltd. ("NWR"), a renowned manufacturer and distributor of recycled and virgin rubber matting and other flooring materials, was acquired by TorQuest Partners. NWR has three manufacturing sites in Abbotsford, BC, Brantford, ON, and Houston, TX, as well as a tire-recycling joint venture, Evolve Recycling Inc., also in Brantford, ON, and a number of key manufacturing alliances in Asia. North West Rubber is a leading manufacturer and distributor of recycled and virgin rubber matting and other flooring materials for consumer, farm, athletic facility, and industrial applications. TorQuest Partners is a private equity fund manager based in Canada. TorQuest is currently investing from TorQuest Partners Fund V, a C$1.375 million fund that closed in March 2020, with more than CA$3 billion in equity money under management.

To further increase its contribution to reducing the harmful effects of industrial waste on the environment, APM Terminals Apapa, Nigeria has started a pilot using paving blocks made from recycled used tyres for exterior paving. This was announced in an APM’s recent press release from December 2, 2021. Studies have shown that recycling tires helps reduce the effects of harmful chemicals on the environment. Recycling also prevents tires from becoming breeding grounds for disease-carrying pests such as malaria mosquitoes. The company is running a pilot project with a Nigerian recycling facility, Freetown Waste Management Recycle Limited, to use the paving blocks at the terminal and potentially recycle the terminals own used tires in the future. Following the pilot the sustainability of the solution will be evaluated.

The BlackCycle consortium organized a workshop with 120 worldwide industry leaders, legislators, academics, H2020 project coordinators, and institutional representatives at the Michelin technical center in Ladoux, France, close to the end of November 2021. The workshop's goal was to explore and share ideas about how to implement a circular economy in Europe. BlackCycle stated during the event that it has created the world's first sustainable carbon blacks (sCB) for use in tire applications in a carbon black furnace reactor using oils derived from the pyrolysis of end-of-life tires. The cyclical process that BlackCycle intends to implement is the creation of this sustainable material from end-of-life tires.

Grupo Antolin presents the first headliner substrate produced by thermoforming a PU foam with materials made from urban & post-consumer plastic waste and end of life tires. Working with recycled materials is a natural step in the company’s commitment to develop a sustainable business. The aim is to reduce waste and energy consumption during manufacturing and to meet the demand for eco-friendly interiors, something increasingly valued in car buyers' choices, according to Grupo Antolin.

According to the recent press release by Bolder Industries, the company is to launch an additional tire pyrolysis plant in Terre Haute, Indiana (United States). The Terre Haute facility will begin production in early 2023, increasing the company's current capacity. Bolder Industries, Inc., the pioneer of advanced sustainable chemical manufacturing sourced from end-of-life tires, today announced the purchase of the former Pyrolyx facility in Terre Haute, Indiana. The 66,000-square-foot location, which ceased operations in March 2020, will be retrofitted with Bolder Industries' proprietary solution, utilizing the currently permitted facility to increase Bolder's manufacturing capacity within the first year of operations. The initial phase is expected to be completed in early 2023 and is estimated to divert approximately three million tires from landfill or burning.

Sussan Ley, the Federal Minister for the Environment, has unveiled a new $10 million state-of-the-art tire recycling plant in Western Sydney's Erskine Park. The plant, according to TireCycle CEO Jim Fairweather, will be able to treat the tens of thousands of tons of end-of-life tires that were previously shipped offshore, resulting in adverse environmental effects. "It's a huge win for the environment and Australia's circular economy," Fairweather said, adding that "end-of-life tires will now be given a new lease on life." The facility will recycle end-of-life tires into products such as tire-derived fuel and rubber crumb for use in roads, flooring tiles and sports surfaces. The factory is expected to produce 10,000 tons of rubber crumb and 40,000 tons of tire-derived fuel per year (TDF).