News: Tire Recycling & Pyrolysis

Pyrum Innovations AG (Pyrum) has already started preliminary discussions with Thermo Lysi SA for the development of a new plant for the recycling of used tires in Greece. Pyrum has agreed to carry out all the planning necessary to obtain the building permits required under Greek law for the new facility, to be built approximately 140 km north of Athens. The facility will have a capacity of 20,000 tons of end-of-life tires per year and will therefore be able to cover almost half of the total amount of end-of-life tires in Greece – the country generates around 45,000 tons of waste tires annually. The new plant will help sustainably recycle these used tires and recover valuable resources.

In Gaza, where the Israeli blockade has created significant challenges, a 27-year-old Palestinian named Madian Helles has initiated a car tire recycling project to address environmental concerns. In Gaza, the disposal of car tires is problematic due to their slow decomposition and the absence of recycling initiatives. Inspired to find a solution to these environmental issues, Helles launched his project. The tire recycling process involves several stages. Helles collects used tires using mobile carts and uses a machine he assembled to cut, slice, chop, grind, and sort the tires to remove impurities, threads, and fibers.

Continental continues to step up its activities to ensure a circular economy. Recently, the tire manufacturer added recovered carbon black (rCB) to its newly produced Super Elastic solid tires at its tire plant in Korbach, Germany, thus reducing the use of fossil raw materials and CO2 emissions. Solid tires such as Continental’s SC20+ already contain around 60 percent renewable and recycled materials thanks to their high natural rubber content. By 2050 at the latest, Continental aims to use 100 percent sustainable materials in its tire products.

According to a media platform Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists, a Pennsylvania-based bitcoin mine, located at a waste coal power plant, plans to incorporate end-of-life tires as a new fuel source. Stronghold Digital Mining, the mining company, states it is an "environmentally beneficial" bitcoin miner. However, during a recent press conference, environmental advocates raised concerns about air quality violations at the facility, known as Panther Creek, since its acquisition by Stronghold in 2021. Tire waste is a significant problem in the United States, with around 300 million end-of-life tires generated annually. Burning them is considered better than landfill disposal, but it's not as sustainable as recycling.

Wastefront AS has been granted an environmental permit for their flagship site at the Port of Sunderland. The decision was made Thursday 31 August 2023 by the Environment Agency and clears the way for the next stage in the process, as Wastefront works toward having the site fully operational by 2026. Commenting on the news, Wastefront CEO Vianney Vales said: “Wastefront’s work is timely and urgent; our Blueprint will solve the disposal of an estimated 31 million metric tonnes of end-of-life tires annually, which is currently a concerningly dense source of both emissions and waste.

In Germany, nearly 500,000 tons of end-of-life (EOL) tires accumulate each year, with only a small portion being recycled into new tires. A digital tool known as the Configurator for the Circular Economy (ConCirMy) has been developed to provide environmental information to stakeholders in the tire supply chain. This tool aims to help consumers, designers, and recyclers make informed decisions regarding tire purchases by considering their environmental performance. The ConCirMy project aims to optimize tires for the circular economy without compromising quality.

Discover the future of sustainable tire recycling with Ecolomondo's CEO, Eliot Sorella, in Episode 54 of the Tyre Recycling Podcast where he focuses on the world of tire pyrolysis and dives deep into Ecolomondo's latest updates. In this episode, learn about Ecolomondo's groundbreaking technology that transforms discarded tires into valuable resources and explore the environmental impact of tire pyrolysis and its role in creating a cleaner, greener planet. The podcast also looks at some of the final key awards in the 2023 Recircle Awards programme.

The oil and carbon black that Scandinavian Enviro Systems (Enviro) recovers from end-of-life vehicle tires in its plant in Åsensbruk have received new certification in accordance with the International Sustainability & Carbon Certification (ISCC) scheme. It is the second time that the recovered carbon black and oil from the facility in Åsensbruk has received renewed certification in accordance with ISCC, International Sustainability & Carbon Certification.

The Ocean Legacy Foundation (OLF), known for its efforts to clean up plastic litter from oceans and shorelines, is expanding its mission to tackle abandoned tires. OLF, which began targeting tires in 2014, has since removed 4,000 tires from marine environments and sent them for recycling. Tire Stewardship British Columbia (TSBC), Canada’s oldest tire recovery program, is now granting OLF $150,000 over five years to support its cleanup initiatives along BC’s coastline, aiming to ensure that rubber scraps and foam from tires are recycled.