News: Tire Recycling & Pyrolysis

Industry officials in India told Reuters that natural rubber output is expected to increase 15 percent during 2017-2018. This is expected to be the highest price in almost 4 years. Also, higher prices make farmers commence using trees abandoned before. Notwithstanding, natural rubber price rally appears to be bad news for tire manufacturers as it cuts down profits. And to stay afloat, the businesses may pass those hits on to customers.

Recently, University of Nottingham and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) carried out a research aimed at improving rheometry of crumb rubber. Davide Lo Presti, Senior Scientist and International research Project manager at University of Nottingham reports results in his article “Improving rheometry of crumb rubber modified bitumen: a testing geometry tailored for simultaneous low-shear mixing and measurements”.

95% of Australia’s tire recycling and the bulk of crumb rubber production for sports fields, playgrounds and civil engineering are covered by ATRA’s members. Every year, Australia produces some 50 million used tires and almost half of them – 23 million – are available for recycling. Members of ATRA process some 20.5 million of that number, whereas the remainder is kept at stockpiles: baled and ready for shipment. In fact, bales cause biosecurity and environmental risks for receiving countries. OTR tires are also kept within the country. In contrast to any other type of ELT, mining tires are usually buried onsite. However, there are numerous opportunities for them to be reprocessed.

Stacey Davidson, director of Redisa, says the organization believes that the industry of waste management offers people means to furnish their living irrespective of their age, initial skills and level of education. Davidson says that the initiative is a great opportunity to deal with the low-skilled unemployment in the country. REDISA’s program stipulates inclusion of micro collectors into future waste collection and management plans, giving them security and recognition they deserve.

Napajedla stud farm (Czech Republic) which is 130 years old is one of the best facilities in Europe. This stud farm brought up several famous winners and it bears a number of success stories in its history. Horses which were raised at the farm won races not only in Czech Republic and Slovakia, but also showed remarkable success in competitions in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, France and Great Britain.

Dеpаrtmеnt of Hеаlth of Wаshington Stаtе rеcеntly publishеd а rеsеаrch rеport on risks of cаncеr аmong Wаshington’s soccеr tеаms. Thе rеsеаrch intеndеd to rеspond to concеrns of cаncеr cаsеs аmong thе soccеr plаyеrs bеcаusе of plаying on synthеtic turf fiеlds. Thе soccеr coаch from thе Univеrsity of Wаshington submittеd а list of 53 formеr or currеnt rеsidеnts of Wаshington who hаd cаncеr in 2016 аnd plаyеd soccеr on аrtificiаl turf fiеlds bеforе. Howеvеr, this list without othеr еvidеncеs could not dеtеrminе whеthеr thеrе wаs а highеr cаncеr risk аmong thе plаyеrs thаn thе rаtе еxpеctеd in thе gеnеrаl populаtion of Wаshington.

This post is a summary of numerous researches and articles published by European and American research institutions. Dozens of independent researches carried out in Europe and U.S. throughout the past decade inferred that tire-derived rubber infill in the artificial turf poses no threat to human health. Researchers assert unanimously that exposure of athletes’ skin to crumb rubber infill on stadiums and playgrounds yields no elevated risk of cancer. As the issue has been assuming additional importance, it achieved the level of the European Chemical Agency (ECHA) which, together with the European Committee of Standardization, carried out comprehensive researches about crumb rubber exposure on human health.

The Intellectual Property Authority of the European Union (EUIPO) recently approved a trademark EnviroCB which belongs to the company Scandinavian Enviro Systems. Enviro is the first company in the world which commenced supplying recycled carbon black (rCB) to the premium segment of automotive industry. Now that the trademark has been registered, Enviro has a chance to deliver rCB to other markets and industries to substitute virgin carbon black.

On the day when the incident happened, the seventeen-year-old employee standing on the trailer saw that a long piece of rubber stuck in the out-feed. Therefore, he signaled the controller to reverse the shredder. Feeding the piece of rubber back into the shredder with his right hand, he held the side of the out-feed with the left hand. Unfortunately, rubber piece was pulled into the shredder swiftly and worker’s right hand was pulled with it. All fingers of his right hand we amputated by the shredder whereas his right thumb proved unsalvageable after a surgery which aimed to reattach it.