News: Tire Recycling & Pyrolysis

In May 2019, Carbon Craft Design launched its first carbon tile production. The manufacturing of the carbon tiles is a three-step process. First, carbon is collected from tire pyrolysis based factories, which is then processed at a facility and finally converted into tiles at a manufacturing unit located in Morbi, Gujarat. The entire process of making these tiles consumes one-fifth of the energy required to make vitrified tiles and reduces air pollution by 30,000 liters of carbon for each tile made.

The carbon black of PCBL plant is the latest in a series of expansion projects undertaken by the Indian manufacturer. According to the magazine, last year, PCBL added two speciality carbon production lines at its facility in Palej with a combined capacity of 30 kilotons per annum. In addition, yet in 2019, the company increased production at its brownfield unit in Mundra, Gujarat by 50 kilotons per annum. Moreover, from the summer 2020 onward, the company has been strengthening its positions thanks to its new R&D center in Belgium.

Michelin – a well-known tire manufacturer headquartered in France – is launching construction of its first tire recycling plant in collaboration with Enviro, a Swedish company that has developed a patented tire pyrolysis technology to recover carbon black, oil, steel and gas from end-of-life tires. Based in Chile’s Antofagasta region, the plant will be able to recycle 30,000 tons of earthmover tires a year, or nearly 60% of such tires scrapped every year nationwide. Work will begin in 2021, with production scheduled to get underway in 2023. More than $30 million will be invested in building Michelin’s first new-generation end-of-life tire processing plant.

Scandinavian Enviro Systems (Enviro) – a Swedish tire pyrolysis operator and equipment supplier – will publish the notification of the Extraordinary General Meeting that is to be held to approve the three definitive agreements that form the basis of the strategic partnership with Michelin. The notification contains more detailed information on the agreements regarding, for example, guarantee commitments and Michelin’s right to use Enviro’s pyrolysis technology, which Enviro wants to bring to the attention of shareholders and the capital market through the press release.

The Association of Natural Rubber Producing Countries (ANRPC) releases its monthly publication, Natural Rubber Trends January 2021, available on its website. ANRPC says the outlook for world production of natural rubber (NR) is estimated to decline by 7.7%, year-on-year, to 12.782 million tons for 2020. The improved outlook for 2020 compared to the previous outlook published in last issue, is resulted from a better-than-expected production estimated from Thailand, India and Cambodia during the year. While the world demand for NR clocked at 12.827 million tons during 2020, contracted at 6.9%, year-on-year.

ECO Green Equipment – a renowned tire recycling equipment manufacturer from Utah, United States, was recently featured in an article by Hydraulics & Pneumatics magazine. The magazine says that by relying on hydraulic pumps, ECO Green’s unique cracker mill for rubber powder downsizing, Krumbuster, turns end-of-life tires into crumb rubber and super-fine rubber powder with record speed and a smaller environmental footprint. ECO Green Equipment produces turnkey industrial tire recycling solutions to help companies turn end-of-life tires into valuable marketable materials and goods. And as their revolutionary Krumbuster machine shows, they’re doing it in a cheap, fast and environment-friendly way.

Episode 20 of the Tyre Recycling Podcast features Giovanni Corbetta, CEO of Italian end-of-life tire management organization Ecopneus. In the new episode, Ewan Scott and Giovanni Corbetta discuss the state of rubberised asphalt from end-of-life tyres in Italy. In this podcast with Ecopneus CEO Giovanni Corbetta, one can learn how Italy has certified the use of rubberised asphalt and how it is expecting a considerable increase in use, taking tyre recycling closer to that elusive circular economy.

The California Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) reported in January 2021 about putting tire manufacturers on notice that California wants them to explore alternatives to using zinc, a toxic chemical that harms aquatic life and burdens waterways. Zinc helps make rubber stronger, but also wears off tire tread and washes into storm drains, streams, rivers and lakes, threatening California fish and other aquatic organisms. DTSC, the State’s department missioned to work toward safer California households, workplaces, and products, intends to use its innovative Safer Consumer Products (SCP) program to work with tire manufactirers to look for an alternative to this harmful chemical. The SCP program seeks to remove toxic chemicals from products before they’re sold to consumers. This is more efficient and effective than issuing bans later, and, in this case, helps stormwater agencies cost-effectively meet state and federal water-quality requirements.

The National Circular Economy Roadmap found innovation is crucial to realising Australia’s largest economic gains, which will come from designing new products and materials, including through advanced manufacturing, and in embracing new business models that will create domestic and export markets for waste streams. This could more than triple job creation from resource recovery in Australia, where the recycling sector currently generates 9.2 jobs per 10,000 tonnes of waste, compared with only 2.8 jobs for the same amount of waste sent to landfill.