“More Than Twenty” Interested in TyreGenics Plant

Following the news that a fire had caused some damage to the Welsh TyreGenics operation last Friday (27 March), a spokesperson for Begbies Traynor, administrators of TyreGenics got in touch with Tyres & Accessories to explain that the damage was sustained by a storage facility and not the plant itself, while also revealing that the administrator was confidant of finding a buyer for the business. The business announced that it had gone into administration earlier in January, 18 months after opening as a joint venture between Credential Environmental, BOC, FieldTurf Tarkett and RTI Cryogenics in July 2007. The £4 million recycling plant has a processing capacity of 80 tonnes per day.

The spokesperson stated last Friday: “Last night we were made aware that a large fire had started at a secure outdoor storage facility that TyreGenics leases from a local haulage firm around half a mile from the TyreGenics plant at Baglan Industrial Estate. There were around 2,500 one tonne bags of recycled rubber crumb at the facility and all of this product appears to have been lost to the fire, the cause of which is being investigated by the police. Although the fire produced large amounts of thick black smoke, the fumes were not toxic.

“The fire was brought under control during the night, and at 8 am [Friday] morning there were two fire crews present at the Aberavon Road haulage yard where the fire occurred, damping down smouldering crumb. There was no damage to any buildings, and nobody was hurt.

“The rubber crumb is not highly flammable and we are therefore very keen to hear the findings of investigations by the police and fire service. The TyreGenics plant itself is several hundred yards from the fire on Baglan Way, and was completely unaffected by the events, although thousands of bags of crumb stock worth hundreds of thousands of pounds have been lost.

“The process of marketing the business, which was placed into administration on 15th January 2009 is unaffected and more than twenty parties have contacted administrators with an interest in purchasing the business.

“Discussions are ongoing with a number of potential buyers, and the administrators are confident that a buyer will be found for TyreGenics in the near future.”