News: Tire Recycling & Pyrolysis

The last issue of Tyre Asia published in December/January featured the second part of Robert Weibold’s interview on tyre recycling. Earlier, Tyre Asia interviewed Robert Weibold on the state of the tyre recycling industry. As the problem of waste tyre accumulation and disposal around the world gets acute, Robert shared his view on how to sustainably tackle the problem.

Scandinavian Enviro Systems and Treadcraft Limited extend the MoU that was signed on June 29th, 2018 by six months. The parties intend to establish a Joint Venture for co-ownership of a tyre pyrolysis plant with an annual capacity of 30,000 tonnes tyres. The plant is planned to be established at 1501 College Avenue, Niagara Falls, New York, USA. “The fact that we have a specified site for the plant is an important step forward. We will now continue to formalize the terms and conditions of the project. Within the next six months, legal, financial and license issues will be clarified, and a plant order will be established. Joint ownership is in line with Enviro’s new business model and it means that we will benefit from the returns that will be generated by a plant” says Thomas Sörensson, CEO of Enviro.

Commenting on the term of the new CEO, the company revealed that he will serve as a company’s head until Thomas Redd, CEO of Pyrolyx USA will be ready to be in charge of the corporation and will not be distracted by the development of the Indiana-based recovered carbon black facility, which is anticipated to begin functioning in June this year. The facility will be able to recycle more than 12,000 metric tons of scrap tires.

The US city of Memphis has started to implement Tire Redemption Program again aiming to reduce the number of illegally dumped waste tires. Thanks to the initiative, the locals are now able to get $1 for a single tire collected and handed in. The maximum amount of tires which can be brought is 250 at a time. Memphis collected tires on January 9-10 at Refurban – the commercial project creating unique partnerships to boost the city’s economy and handle recyclable waste products.

The Amending Law named certain products, manufacturers and importers which will have to cover the cost of the fee to enter the market. Moreover, once the product is supplied, they will have to notify about the amount they spent on the fee each month before the 15th day. After that, they sign and submit a special declaration. In addition, the new legislation will introduce an obligatory deposit refund system that will start functioning in the beginning of 2021. The legislation also indicates that the parties will face fines if they fail to comply with the law.

The local authorities highlighted that the move was taken as more and more waste tire recycling facilities, tire storages, old car sales points and auto repairs are currently being launched in Detroit. And, according to the executive order, this expansion poses a problem as the businesses don’t comply with zoning and licensing standards. Moreover, some of the facilities are involved in illegal activities.

Spainish tire recycling authority Signus is reducing tire recycling fee by 3,55 percent since January this year – the decision was made during the budget approval by the Board of Directors for the new financial year. Therefore, the fee for a passenger vehicle tire will become € 1.24 instead of € 1.28, and the recycling fee for a truck tire changes to € 9,20 from € 9,57.

Turkey’s capital, Ankara, will get the biggest tire recycling plant in the state amid growth of demand for recycled rubber materials. Turkey-based firm AKO Group is in charge of the facility’s operations and seeks to cut Turkey’s reliance on imported materials in strategic segments, Erkal Ozurun of AKO said. According to him, the new plant, anticipated to become operational in 2020, will be able to handle various scrap tire input, even truck tires and thick steel wire.

During the last eight month, waste management centre Tadweer based in Abu Dhabi has processed almost 7,000 tons of scrap tires at its Gulf Rubber Factory; thus, it constitutes the daily recycling rate of 28 tons of tires. The move to establish the plant was made by Tadweer with an aim to process various waste, which could be further used as raw materials. According the company’s head Salem Al Kaabi, the recycling at the factory is conducted in accordance with the top global standards. The Middle-Eastern factory, equipped with tire recycling systems from Europe capable of manufacturing crumb rubber granules of various shapes, was launched 7 years ago. The process is sustainable and environment-friendly.