News: Tire Recycling & Pyrolysis

On 29 March 2022, the Australian Government released the 2022–23 Portfolio Budget Statement for the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment. This Budget, the Department is taking our investment in recycling and waste to a whole new level:

Bolder Industries, Inc., the circular solutions provider for rubber, plastics, and petrochemical supply chains, today announced that its Maryville, Missouri tire pyrolysis facility has been ISCC PLUS (International Sustainability and Carbon Certification) certified for circular carbon black (BolderBlack®) and pyrolysis oil (BolderOil™). “True circularity has been our goal from the start, and we’re thrilled to see the market demanding that more materials be verified as delivering what they promise”, says Tony Wibbeler, CEO of Bolder Industries.

The war in Ukraine and upcoming Ecodesign Regulation as part of reforms under the EU Green Deal resulted in sharp rise in interest in recovered materials. Synthos announces that its collaboration with Swiss company Tyre Recycling Solutions (TRS) is progressing according to plan as it obtained a minority stake in the successful scale-up company following the acquisition of Trinseo's synthetic rubber business at the end of 2021. In addition to the progress Synthos and TRS have made together in the marketplace, resulting in approvals with global tyre manufacturers and initial commercial sales for tyre applications, Synthos and TRS have seen a sharp increase in interest in TyreXol™ recycled rubber. The reasons for this increase are twofold and can be linked to reduced availability of synthetic rubber and carbon black since the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, as well as upcoming regulatory changes that are likely to mandate the use of recycled content in tyre production.

Tyre Stewardship Australia (TSA) envisions a sector where resources from end-of-life tires (ELT) are used as feedstock for new value-added products, boosting new industries, creating new jobs and finding alternate uses for this valuable resource.

Tyre Stewardship Australia (TSA) has released a new report to help Tyre Derived Product (TDP) processors, manufacturers and users increase their knowledge of the environmental and health risks around use of end-of-life (EOL) tires. The Tyre Particle Health, Environment and Safety Report 2022 pulls together findings from global research to provide a useful summary of what the world knows about the contribution of tire and road wear particles (TRWP) to chemical and microplastic pollution.

ASTM International’s recovered carbon black (rCB) committee (D36) says it is developing a proposed standard that will be used to differentiate between different rCB products and provide quality control tool for producers and users. According to ASTM International member Pieter ter Haar, the proposed standard (WK81244) will explain how thermogravimetry (TGA), a type of thermal analysis, can be used to measure rCB bulk composition parameters. TGA can also measure organic residuals, ash content, and overall carbon content.

Pyrum Innovations AG ("Pyrum"), one of the pioneers in the sustainable recycling of end-of-life tyres (ELT) based on its pyrolysis technology, announces that the Supervisory Board has prematurely extended the contract with CEO Pascal Klein by five years until 1 February 2028. Mr Klein co-founded Pyrum Innovations ESC GmbH in 2008 and was managing partner of the company from 2008 to 2018. Since the company's change of legal form and name to Pyrum Innovations AG in 2018, he has been CEO of the company.

Tyre dumps are always an environmental issue, and until they are addressed, they will remain a problem. Whilst attention was focused on Kuwait, it is a reality that other states also have large tyre dumps. Qatar was until recently the home to a large tyre dump at its Umm Al Afai landfill. However, it has recently cleared the site and returned it to its natural state.

As we informed earlier, Frankfurt will host the 2nd European Carbon Black Summit on 22–23 June 2022. The two day event will bring together senior representatives of the different stakeholders involved in this sector, from producers, technology developers, rubber producers, chemical suppliers, researchers, as well as other influential stakeholders from the value chain.