Crumb Rubber Highlights Lack of Tyre Recycling in Ireland

County Louth, Ireland-based Crumb Rubber has highlighted what one report called the “inadequate state of recycling of tyres in Ireland.” Irish Trucker News quoted Leo Kerley of Crumb Rubber as saying a massive 29,000 tonnes of tyres are not being recycled in the republic annually. Kerley pointed out that approximately 6,000 tonnes of tyres are recycled on a yearly basis in Ireland. The inability of policing waste laws has reportedly left thousand of tonnes of tyre being stockpiled throughout the country.

Crumb Rubber has a full-time workforce of 21 and with a number of part-timers also engaged in the operation they can process 1,000 tyres an hour with various crumb sizes as ordered at the end process. The end product is used for various projects, equestrian, sports pitches, play grounds, paths etc. One noticeable example of reuse is Dundalk’s new state of the art all weather racecourse which was constructed using 2,000 tonnes of crumb rubber.

Crumb Rubber’s management reportedly believes a major opportunity is being lost by local authorities who have failed to grasp the concept of rubberized asphalt. Their perspective is if councils employed the proven rubber asphalt, they would be contributing to the recycling debate and also obtaining a 20 year extra life span to their road networks. Last year, Crumb Rubber created three new jobs with the development of a new line for add-on products such as rubber mats made from the crumb raw material.