News: Tire Recycling & Pyrolysis

Chinese scientists discovered a groundbreaking method to treat tire rubber waste eliminating the harmful nature of 2-(methylthio)-bezothiazole (MTBT) – a toxic chemical-component of tires threatening human health that is being released when rubber meets the surfaces. What’s more, the scholars went beyond that and found a way how to benefit from the element – they created an organic semiconductor based on it.

China’s Henan Province now has a tire recycling facility with an annual processing capacity of 100,000 tons of tires – it can recycle scrap tires and not pollute the environment – this move helps the Asian country reinforce the sustainable trends in economy. The new facility developed by Chinese tire-producer Doublestar Group and ten universities, with Southeast University leading the research, is located in Runan County and is aimed at fighting problems that come from environmental pollution as the Chinese tire recycling system, reportedly, has long been associated with pollution.

The Department of Veterinary Studies of the University of Perugia in association with the Italian Ecopneus and Unione Italiani Sport Per Tutti (UISP) conducted a research in which they found that horse-riding surface that contains recycled rubber can serve as outstanding an material if one wants to train and relax using it.

The Recycling and Economic Development Initiative of South Africa (Redisa) – the main authority formerly responsible for scrap tire collection and recycling in the country – expressed its commitment to restoring its work after, earlier this year, the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) upturned an order seeking shut down of the body issued two years ago. According to SCA judgment cited by Redisa, the now late ex-minister Edna Molewa reportedly began the court trial with an aim to eliminate the group using contradictions in order to get access to the recycling initiative’s assets.

British government commences consultations aimed at overhauling the waste system via reducing plastic contamination; the step encouraging recycling is expected to bring the island nation closer to circular economy. The consultations are likely to result in a more widely-used Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) not only for such waste as plastics, but for scrap tires as well.

Eighths Biennial Scrap Tire Conference organized by the U.S. Tire Manufacturers Association (USTMA) and Scrap Tire Research and Education Foundation (STREF) will take place on December 4-5, 2019 at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Greenville, South Carolina. The event will pay special attention to the subject of sustainability and circular economy, and will discuss how scrap tire market can carry out sustainable practices. During the conference, the participants who are involved in tire recycling industry will get a chance to take part in discussions dedicated to the new trends in circular economy practices, what challenges and opportunities may emerge on the scrap tire market. The presenters will talk about rubber modified asphalt, tire-derived fuel, as well as tire pyrolysis and devulcanization.

U.S. state of Texas that primarily turns ugly massive accumulations of waste tires into fuel, or applies them as rubber mulch for landscaping projects has seen the growth of its tire recycling rate of over 8 percent: while in 2015 the rate was slightly over 35 percent, in 2017 it increased to 44 percent.

The Government of Canada is providing repayable funds estimated at $326,250 for a new project that will assist the work of Tire Recycling Atlantic Canada Corporation (TRACC) and enable modernization and production growth at its Minto plant, Pat Finnigan, Member of Parliament for Miramichi-Grand Lake district announced late March.

Australian city Fremantle has become a pioneer that applied recycled rubber from scrap tires to develop footpath; and the city is not planning to stop and will keep on practicing the method in similar projects. The new footpath at the Thompson Road is similar in its content to a playground for kids (molded tiles and surfaces from crumb rubber). Moreover, it doesn’t restrict planting of trees along it.