News: Tire Recycling & Pyrolysis

Ewan Scott, the chief editor of Tyre and Rubber Recycling magazine, journalist and expert in global tire recycling sector, informs about that Tire Recycling Forum will be held again as a part of The Tire Cologne in 2020. According to Ewan’s article in the Tyre and Rubber Recycling Magazine, the format of the event will stay similar. Tyre and Rubber Recycling has already spoken to a number of potential speakers who might wish to address the Forum across a range of tire recycling topics.

Italy-based EcoTyre shared its first results of devlucanization initiative saying that the process gave outstanding results when used on retreaded Hankook tires. Some materials that rely on devulcanized rubber were used in tire retreads; according to EcoTyre, this method brought positive outcomes of the testing and the company now seeks to apply more devulcanized rubber in retreads as well as in new tires.

Every year, Australia is being threatened by 20 million tires that are dumped at landfills, thus, they pose danger to human safety and environment due to potential fire outbreak and contamination. To tackle the challenge, The New South Wales Environmental Authority (EPA) has endorsed the construction of the first green tire recycling plant; it will operate in Warren, northwest of Dubbo. Scrap tires there will be recycled into valuable products such as oil, steel and carbon.

One of many applications of fuel oil derived from scrap tires by means of pyrolysis is marine fuel. Tire pyrolysis operators, therefore, should be aware of changes in regulations introduced to maritime transportation. The main issue here is sulphur content which is usually rather high in tire pyrolysis oil. Starting next year IMO 2020 global regulation cap, will require all naval vessels to use fuel that contains sulphur of no more than 0.5%. This is set by Regulation 14.1.3, MARPOL Annex VI.

South Carolina’s Greenville is hosting the 8th Scrap Tire Recycling Conference on December 4-5 this year; the most dominant tire producing state in the US expects to unite the industry’s leaders and key players and to become an outstanding platform for networking. The conference is organized by Scrap Tire Research and Education Foundation (STREF). One of the conference’s sponsors is the U.S. Tire Manufacturers Association (USTMA); additionally, the event receives support of the South Carolina Department of Commerce.

Cement company Argos belonging to a larger Colombian conglomerate used over 75,000 tons of waste as energy source last year – this amount represents all waste, including scrap tires, that a city with population of 200,000 generates annually. Moreover, the company’s alternative fuel control system at cement plant in Cartagena uses scrap tires and helped increase co-processing capacity of Regional Colombia by 200%. Following the success, the company signed an official document in which it set forth its commitment to sustainability vowing to rely on alternative fuels, including scrap tire rubber, received via recycling.

U.S. state of Kentucky has been handling scrap tires by establishing the Waste Tire Trust Fund that gets its money from $2 fees imposed on each new tire when it is purchased. Thanks to the fund, the state manages five million of waste tires each year sending them to Champlin Tire Recycling in Kansas where the waste is transformed into valuable ADA-accessible products. They are later applied in playgrounds and trails construction, as well as in landscaping projects.

On November 11-15 this year, one of the most industrialized cities of Mexico, Queretaro, is hosting the XV Latin American Conference on Rubber Technology that will also shed light on future and potential developments in tire recycling in North and South America. It is anticipated that the event will unite representatives of public sector and businesses; thus, it will become a sound platform for networking where visitors could offer their services and products. According to the event’s website, the biggest companies representing the recycling sector will attend the conference.

Recovered Carbon Black (rCB) by recycler Klean Industries Inc (Klean) has managed to set record for its production as the company manufactures over 100,000 metric tons of the valuable product per year. To get the material, the company relies on its licensed scrap tire recycling technology that enables manufacturing of high quality products out of waste. Apart from recovered Carbon Black, Klean also produces tire-derived oil and steel.