New facility to recycle tyres

Iona Capital has recently announced an investment in Gradena Limited to recycle waste tyres and UPVC. Gradena is a joint venture between Gradsol Ltd and Dena Technology Ltd, a provider of nanotechnology solutions and will manufacture wood replacement goods from the waste tyres and UPVC. Gradsol is a management consultancy company that specialises in sustainability and operational consultancy, particularly in the waste sector.

Iona describes its latest investment as “an important step in supporting tyre recycling technology that creates no harmful emissions and recycles all by-products.”

Gradena plans to process around 1200 tonnes of waste tyres annually and this figure can be increased by adding more production lines. The wood replacement end product can be moulded and cut into a wide range of shapes and is less susceptible to degradation from heat, damp, insects etc. At the end ot their life cycle, the products can be recycled.

Nick Ross Director of Iona Capital, said: “Iona is fully committed to providing funding for the development of environmental projects which help to achieve the zero waste to landfill target.This project is an excellent example of supporting leading edge technology and producing value added products which overcome the growing issue of waste tyres.”

Robert Paley, Finance Director at Gradsol, said: “This project achieves not only strong financial performance but also delivers significant environmental benefits.The main selling point of the end products is that they are much more durable than their traditional counterparts and they provide considerable additional commercial benefits. The products also reduce reliance on wood and other, non-, or less, sustainable construction products.”

Dr Brian Sulaiman, the technology’s inventor, explained that the blending of nanomaterials with waste rubber and UPVC leads to the creation of an exciting new material that has a very wide range of potential properties.