Partnership to bring Micronized Rubber Powder to Europe

Spanish Environmental Group, HERA Holding and US sustainable materials company, Lehigh Technologies Inc have announced a partnership to bring in micronized rubber powder (MRP) for the tyre, consumer and industrial plastics and coatings industries in Europe. Lehigh says that MRPs can lower costs, increase the sustainability profile of end products and deliver performance without sacrificing the reliability and performance of traditional raw materials. Its customer base already includes five of the top ten largest tyre companies in the world, and the company estimates that more than 140 million tyres have been manufactured using its MRP. The new partnership aims to bring MRP into Europe with Hera Holding adapting its recycling plant in Navarra, Spain to allow for the production of MRP.

The new agreement means that Lehigh will work with HERA’s Navarra-based subsidiary, Indugarbi NFU, reaching the important industrial markets of Europe. Lehigh says the combination of its technical leadership in MRPs with HERA’s experience in bringing new materials into industrial supply chains will help to increase the materials’ adoption by a broad range of industries in Europe.  
 
“HERA is committed to the advancement of environmental excellence, managing waste resources and developing methods and approaches to repurpose those materials to meet the growing demand for sustainable products in Europe,” said Jordi Gallego, HERA GROUP CEO. “This partnership with Lehigh is an example of how our company achieves this goal – we partner with innovative technology companies that are focused on sustainability and on transforming end-of-life material into new resources.”
 
Lehigh’s cryogenic turbo mill technology transforms end-of-life tyre and post-industrial rubber into a lower cost, sustainable replacement for synthetic polymers and associated rubber compounds. The company says its mill breaks down end-of-life tyres and post-industrial rubber to micron scale powders, which are then sold to manufacturers of advanced products, including high-performance tyres.

“HERA’s focus on technology innovation and collaborative approach complements Lehigh’s approach- assisting customers in developing MRP applications that meet cost, performance and sustainability targets,” said Alan Barton, CEO of Lehigh Technologies. “Furthermore, Europe is an attractive geography due to the focus on sustainability, the receptiveness we have seen already to our MRP and similarities of applications and high performance requirements to other global markets”

Lehigh Technologies says MRPs’ lower costs increase the sustainability profile of end products and deliver performance without sacrificing the reliability and performance offered by traditional raw materials. It hopes the new partnership will accelerate the global adoption of sustainable materials across Europe in the tyre, consumer and industrial plastics and coatings industries in Europe.