The University of Botswana (UB) in collaboration with local company Sky Scene unveiled rubber pavers made from recycled tires in Gaborone, as reported by XinhuaNet, a Chinese online magazine.

Speaking during the unveiling ceremony, David Norris, UB Vice Chancellor, said he was very delighted that the partnership had led to finding solutions to real problems faced by the communities, industries and government.

"The objective of the end-of-life tire recycling project is to reduce the accumulation of end-of-life tires by turning them into multiple useful products with profits," said Norris.

The role of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, UB in this project is to conduct research and develop new machines and technologies for production from raw materials, derived from recycled tires. On the other hand, Sky Scene will produce some of the commonly used products such as rubber pavers, rubber tiles, and playground pavers from recycled rubber.

An experimental section has been constructed using new rubber pavers on UB campus to serve as a demonstration site as well as to investigate some of the performance properties in real operating conditions.

After the research is finalized and concluded, they will need support from financial institutes and investment promoters for procurement for machines and productions, said Thapelo Mokgweetsi, Managing Director of Sky Scene.

Article by XinhuaNet.