Pyrum Innovations confirms it will begin construction of its second wholly owned end-of-life tyre recycling facility in the second half of this year. At a meeting on 6 February, the local council of Perl in Germany’s Saarland region overwhelmingly approved the project. Pyrum has taken initial steps by ordering the first components for the plant and has recently established a subsidiary dedicated to its operation, Pyrum GreenFactory II GmbH.
Uddevalla Municipality in Sweden has authorised Scandinavian Enviro Systems (Enviro) to proceed with the construction of its new joint venture end-of-life tyre recycling plant. This clearance comes after Enviro, Antin Infrastructure Partners, and Michelin reached a final decision on the project’s investment on 7 February. Having secured all essential environmental and construction approvals, Enviro anticipates commencing construction in the first quarter of 2024.
Ireland-based end-of-life-tyre recycling company Life for Tyres Group (L4T Group) is establishing its first processing facility in the USA. Government agency Louisiana Economic Development shares that L4T Group will set up shop at the Port of South Louisiana, investing US$46 million to build a plant on a 10-acre (4-hectare) site.
Pyrum Innovations is working to bring two new reactors into operation at its main Dillingen plant in Germany’s Saarland, trebling the facility’s capacity. It began a second test run of the first of these, reactor 2 (TAD 2), on 30 January and reports “initial successes” towards the reactor’s commissioning.
The Republic of Ireland’s Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) scheme for tyres is to be extended to cover all tyre categories set out in country’s Tyres Regulations (8th regulation). According to Ossian Smyth, Minister of State with responsibility for Communications and Circular Economy, this extension will take effect on 1 January 2025 and enable the environmentally sound management of bus, truck, agricultural, construction and industrial waste tyres. Currently, the EPR scheme manages and seeks sustainable solutions for end-of-life passenger car, 4×4, van and motorcycle tyres.
The UK’s exportation of end-of-life tyres (ELTs) is coming under further scrutiny considering the current crisis in the Red Sea, which is disrupting shipments to the Indian subcontinent, a typical route for many the country’s ELT arisings. Research reveals that this might total as much as 300,000 tonnes of ELTs. With the economic feasibility of these exports under threat, the Tyre Recovery Association is asking for governmental support in promoting the utilisation of currently dormant capacity to process ELTs within the country. The positive case for this is that useful materials can be extracted from ELTs, supporting the country’s circular economy with the residual value offered by proper processing. Meanwhile, the TRA adds, the country would also be doing the right thing in not allowing ELTs to become a highly pollutive issue for authorities in the Indian subcontinent, where UK waste supports unethical, dangerous, and illegal businesses.
In March 2022, the Competitions and Markets Authority (CMA) began investigating “suspected anti-competitive conduct” in relation to the recycling of old or written-off vehicles, known as ‘end-of-life vehicles’ or ELVs.
At the start of January, Pyrum Innovations established a wholly owned subsidiary to operate its second pyrolysis tyre recycling plant. This ‘Pyrum GreenFactory II GmbH’ facility is located in Perl-Besch on the Moselle, in Germany’s Saarland region, and will enter service by the end of 2025. Pyrum has modelled the plant on its main site in nearby Dillingen/Saar, and when operational it will double the company’s recycling capacity to 40,000 tonnes of used tyres per annum. Pyrum says it already starting to order certain plant components – those with “notoriously long delivery times” – in the first quarter of 2024.
The Tyre Recovery Association has warned of a potential increase in damage to the environment around the UK as a result of disruption to a popular shipping route. The Houthi attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea will likely mean an increase in distance and time for vessels navigating the popular route between Europe and Asia, meaning costs will inevitably increase. The TRA says 75 per cent of the UK’s waste tyres are exported to the Indian subcontinent where there is evidence of pollutive dumping of baled waste tyres, a situation the TRA has described as “environmental colonialism”. Commenting on the emerging situation, the association is scathing about the UK government’s “apathy” about tackling the market’s waste tyres sustainably without depending on exports. With shipping costs are more than doubling, the TRA cites precedence that suggests rogue operators are likely to resort increasingly to illegal storage or fly tipping within the UK, as exporters are unwilling to cover the increased costs for collectors.
Pyrum Innovations has dropped plans to build a pyrolysis tyre recycling plant at Homburg, in Germany’s Saarland – but is still confident of setting up its second facility within the originally-announced timeframe, more or less. The company has already identified a potential new location.
A scientific study conducted by researchers from the Fraunhofer Institute highlights the CO2 savings the pyrolysis process offers over conventional means of tyre recycling. Titled ‘A comparative life cycle assessment of tyre recycling using pyrolysis compared to conventional end-of-life pathways’, the study contrasts Pyrum Innovations’ pyrolysis process against three other end-of-life tyre disposal methods.
Pyrum Innovations has produced the first batch of pyrolysis oil in one of the two new reactors it has installed at its main facility in Germany. Although the Pyrum team has only made “small quantities” of oil so far, this marks a further step towards volume production.
Following on from their call to action at the 2021 Smithers rCB conference, Bridgestone Corporation and Michelin Group have updated progress on their goal of increasing recovered carbon black (rCB) utilisation in tyre production. A joint technical white paper, titled Bridgestone & Michelin: Recovered Carbon Black Guidelines, shares the results of their work with other stakeholders to develop a global standard to this end.
Capacity at Pyrum Innovations AG’s main plant in Dillingen/Saar, Germany will soon increase following the successful warm commissioning of the site’s two new pyrolysis reactors. With licensing authorities having given the green light for production to start, Pyrum will soon begin recovering oil from end-of-life tyres within Reactors 2 & 3.
The inaugural meeting of the Tire-to-Tire Circular Economy Model consortium took place at Hankook Tire & Technology’s Technodome facility in Daejeon, South Korea on 1 November. The Hankook Tire-initiated consortium aims to create a sustainable business model for end-of-life tyres in Korea by “designing innovative upcycling processes” for turning them into new tyres.
If you would like the latest news from the Chinese tyre industry in Chinese, visit our partner site TyrepressChina.com. Or click below to continue on Tyrepress.
Stephen Goodchild / Tyre Industry Publications Ltd
Scott Donkin – stock.adobe.com
Unsplash