News: Tire Recycling & Pyrolysis

MEPs from the Industry and Research Committee and the Finnish Presidency of the Council informally consented to new law targeting car and truck tires that would change the way the products are labelled. New information that the law wants to make visible for consumers include tire fuel efficiency, rolling noise and wet grip. Possibly, the label will also have to include info on tire performance on ice and snow. Mileage and abrasion performance data would be required after availability of a testing method is secured. It will be obligatory to put not only labels but QR codes on products.

Tire recycling initiatives conducted by tire producers in Australia require assistance of the state officials, Pirelli Tyres Australia said noting further that law on tire imports should also be adopted. Pirelli forms part of authoritative Tyre Stewardship Australia (TSA), however, the company’s managing director Pierre-Olivier Chevalier stressed that “the Australian government could do a bit more” to help tire recycling.

Europe collected and reused 92 percent of scrap tires in 2017, the European Tyre and Rubber Manufacturers’ Association (ETRMA) revealed in its recent report. To prepare this finding, the group studied records from EU 28, Norway, Serbia, Switzerland and Turkey. If to put the statistics in weight, this constituted over 1.95 million metric tons of waste tires that have undergone recycling, the ETRMA said. The main products of recycling and recovery were rubber, steel and partly textile. Scrap tires were also used for civil engineering purposes and as fuel in cement kilns.

Research Institutes of Sweden (RISE) and Swedish oil company Nynas AB are launching a joint research project with Scandinavian Enviro Systems (Enviro) to develop a process for refining pyrolysis oil recovered from end-of-life tires. As reported by Enviro, refining process will allow the oil to be used in more than fuel, which both increases the value of the recovered oil and reduces the environmental impact. “This project seeks to increase the economic and environmental profitability of both tire pyrolysis and tire recycling in general, and to promote the sustainable conversion of refineries for base oil production,” says Linda Sandström, the project manager at RISE ETC.

An Italian product designer Paolo Gentile has embraced the not-so-common application for recycled scrap tires recently. He decided to create skateboards that contain rubber obtained from waste tires. Gentile, who is a recent graduate of Milan-based Nuova Accademia di Belle Arti, branded his sustainable skateboard business ‘Frammento’.

Tire producer Continental A.G will start applying recovered carbon black (rCB) obtained via tire pyrolysis method and produced by German Pyrolyx A.G. after two companies have reached a five-year deal. According to the contract, Pyrolyx will be supplying some 10,000 metric tons of rCB annually to Continental’s facilities in numerous countries. This will help Pyrolyx to increase its sales and grow in North America and eastern Europe as additional plants will be commissioned as part of the agreement.

Tire pyrolysis company from the Netherlands Black Bear Carbon has stated this month that it is ready to construct one more recovered carbon black plant at the Port of Rotterdam. However, Black Bear did not reveal the annual capacity of its anticipated facility. To recover carbon black, end-of-life tires will undergo thermal treatment at the facility as granulate will be decomposed from the waste materials. They will be further applied in production of carbon black and pyrolysis oil.

Over 70 grant applicants will get some $1.2 million of funding from The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) to conduct scrap tire community clearance efforts within the state. In addition, the authority will provide funds to sponsor waste tire piles removal at private lands to five more applicants. Scrap tire rubber collected as part of the funded efforts will be further used in road paving projects after undergoing recycling. EGLE also said that waste tires will be transformed into rubber mulch for playgrounds.

A US producer and seller of agricultural matting LRP Solutions (Linear Rubber Products) from Wisconsin is now owned by the recycled rubber compounds giant DRI Rubber. Starting November 1, all businesses functioning under LRP Solutions will be integrated into DRI RUBBER’s USA Division in Ohio. The company’s move to buy LRP Solutions will result in sustainability advancement as the two brands will combine their expertise and innovative techniques boosting the quality of the rubber matting products, according to DRI RUBBER’s official website.