News and feature articles relating to recycling, including collection, of end of life tyres.
Israel’s Knesset has approved the first reading of new legislation designed to curb the amount of waste tyres and the spread of dengue fever. Israel produces two million waste tyres each year and, according to Environment Ministry data, doesn’t yet have any recycling plants.
Ecosystem Ltd has become the UK distributor for Evashred tyre shredders made by FV Evans & Sons NZ. These machines may be new to the UK, but they have been successfully sold into New Zealand & Australia for many years. According to the new UK distributor, the machines can be built with electric or hydraulic motors and can be supplied static, or mobile in a truck for on site shredding.
The China Tire Retreading and Utilization Association has changed its name to the China Tire Retreading, Repairing, and Recycling Association (CTRA), in response to a challenge from central government to move towards a resources-saving society and recycling economy.
Bulgarian company Ecoprocess (Dobrich) has completed the construction of a tyre recycling factory. The plant uses a technique called vacuum pyrolysis to incinerate tyres and break them down into carbon, pyrolysis oil and gas.
The US town of Vidalia, Louisiana, is on the verge of giving the go-ahead for a tyre recycling plant to be built, eventually creating up to 135 jobs. Construction is scheduled to begin next year and will take 12 months.
A company called LIEL has patented a process, taking scrap tyres and producing rubber pellets or sheeting, which can be used in the production of downstream products such as vehicle bumpers and shoes.
The Aftermarket Show, which runs from 12 – 15 January at Birmingham NEC, has announced a seminar programme that will focus on important aftermarket and tyre industry issues. The show organisers, Haymarket Exhibitions, are teaming up with one of the show sponsors the Tyre Industry Council (TIC) to stage a seminar programme that will take place within the exhibition hall itself, which, it is hoped, will encourage increased visitor attendance and support from exhibitors.
Used tyre recycling technology has scooped the Invention of the Year award on ABC TV’s The New Inventors.
Developed by Gold Coast inventor John Dobozy, the Melectra Tyre Recycling technology integrates mechanical, chemical and microwave treatment to break down tyres into their base materials – oil, carbon, rubber granules, steel and plastic fibres, recycling 100 per cent of a tyre without waste, residue or emissions.
Ford UK has been named the ‘Best Performing Corporate Organisation’ in the Mayor of London’s Green Procurement Code awards, in recognition of Ford’s outstanding contribution to materials recycling.
During 2005 the company has purchased sufficient recycled-content products to stop 21,000 tonnes of materials – the equivalent of nearly 3,000 Double Decker buses – being disposed of in landfill sites.
After a competitive tender process, WRAP (the Waste & Resources Action Programme) has chosen US-based EER Limited, an international consulting firm specialising in waste tyre reuse, recycling and recovery, to carry out a comprehensive study of international ‘Best Practices’ for recycling scrap tyres into marketable products. “EER Limited’s wide-ranging international experience was important in the decision making process,” said Steve Waite, WRAP’s Tyre programme manager.
Rubbersolutions Pty Ltd has announced the “signing and receipt of deposit” for six tyre recycling plants in Mexico with Recycling Planet. All tyre-recycling facilities will incorporate new grinding technology aimed at reducing whole tyres to -80-mesh powder as well as the Patent Pending Tread Stripping machinery recently introduced by Rubbersolutions. This includes the revolutionary new mining tyre tread stripper/cutter.
At a recent launch representatives of all major Mexican political parties are reported to have supported the move. Recycling Planet managing director, Mr Alberto Frost commented that the company had conducted “worldwide explorations into tyre recycling equipment and were happy to announce that Rubbersolutions technology had proven to be the most acceptable.” Mr Frost also announced a programme of rapid expansion of tyre recycling facilities throughout Latin America.
While the TRA has done great things developing the tyre collection market in the UK, in the Philippines companies are taking steps to develop their own system. Tyre recycling is said to be “in its infancy” in the Phillipines, according to a Sun-Star newspaper report. And all parties involved, including the Board of Investments Office that recently received a grant from the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA), agree that more research is needed in this area. Currently old tyres are used in pot making, sandal production and as fuel for cement kilns.
DFDS, the Danish road transport giant, has ordered 1,000 new trailers from German company Bernard Krone GmbH to be delivered over the next 18 months. The trailers will be fitted with 6,000 Bandag retreads as original equipment, manufactured by Bandag dealers in Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, France, the UK, Czech Republic and Hungary.
On Saturday 8th October, firefighters were called to a blaze at the Charles Lawrence International rubber recycling plant on the Brunel Industrial Estate in Newark. More than 80 firefighters and ambulance staff and 13 fire engines attended the incident.
According to BBC Radio Nottingham, a cloud of dense, black smoke was visible from five or six miles away and visibility was affected for drivers on the A1 and A46 major routes.
Despite this, no-one was injured and damage is believed to be minor, with CLI hoping that full production will be restored shortly.
(India/Rubber Asia) Talk to motorists in most European countries about retreads and retreading, but don’t expect much more than a blank look in return. If you are lucky enough to strike a cord of recognition, you are likely to be quickly disappointed as soon as it becomes clear that the word retreading is irretrievably confused with terms like recut, regrooved (illegal in the case of car tyres) or part-worn. Somewhere along the line it is obvious that the retread has suffered a serious image problem.
A staggering four-out-of-five garages remain unaware of changes in hazardous waste regulations, despite new legislation having been implemented from 16th July 2005, according to Global Resource Management (GRM).
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