News and feature articles relating to recycling, including collection, of end of life tyres.
On 17 February 2022, Cheshire Fire Service sent two crews to tackle “a blaze at a tyre recycling site in Ellesmere Port”. The fire engines from Ellesmere Port and Powey Lane attended the scene in Canalside, Ellesmere Port not far from the Stanlow oil refinery.
At the end of January, Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) staff and their work tackling waste crime were featured as part of investigative journalism programme BBC Disclosure. The programme entitled ‘Dirty Business’ highlighted problems associated with unregulated ‘man with a van’ flytipping to large scale illegal activities with links to serious organised crime such as abandoned lorry trailers bursting with up to 41 tonnes of waste. SEPA launched a dedicated intelligence and enforcement function in October 2019 to deal with those types of growing activities.
Sustainability has risen to become the leading mobility trend over the last few years, and the drive towards greater levels has permeated every major corner of the tyre business. While the focus of pro-environment efforts in the tyre business has often fallen to the tyre recovery sector, developing a Circular Economy necessitates a more holistic industrial input, from raw materials suppliers to manufacturers, from the environmental effects of the tyres in use to the material and energy it is possible to recover from end-of-life tyres. Recognising the fundamental place this theme has in our industry, this month Tyres & Accessories presents the latest news and analysis in the sustainability space, beginning with a general overview of developments in the recycling sector from the British Tyre Manufacturers Association (BTMA)’s perspective.
Jesse Klinkhamer, CEO of Vancouver, Canada-based Klean Industries Inc will be a featured speaker at the European Carbon Black Summit, which runs from 22 to 23 June in Frankfurt.
The Indian government’s announcement of an action plan for the management of increasing volumes of waste tyres has been welcomed by the UK Tyre Recovery Association (TRA). Despite the Indian government’s move as a “much-needed response to a growing environmental challenge”, TRA representatives commented that India’s waste tyre arisings have been “swelling exponentially but so too have imports of old tyres from many western countries”. Some of the latter have reportedly “ended up being processed in illegal or environmentally unsuitable ways”.
European Tyre Enterprise Ltd (ETEL), which owns leading tyre retail and wholesale operations Kwik-Fit and Stapleton’s, has agreed the acquisition of Murfitts Industries, the country’s leading tyre recycling company. ETEL is buying 100 per cent of Murfitts Group Ltd, the parent company of Murfitts Industries. Murfitts operates a national network recycling the equivalent of around 20 million car tyres per year. Murfitts, which processes and recycles tyres into granulate, has been a long-term provider of post-consumer tyre collection and recycling services to ETEL.
Australia’s government has launched ReMade in Australia, a new national effort to encourage industry to transform recycled waste into productive outcomes. Tyre Stewardship Australia (TSA) has expressed its strong agreement with the campaign.
End-of-life tyre recycling firm Genan has a new majority shareholder after PKA, sole owner of Genan since 2014, agreed to sell 51 per cent of its shares in the company to Maj Invest Equity 5 K/S, a fund overseen by one of Denmark’s leading asset management companies. PKA continues to co-own Genan as minority shareholder.
The CEO of Scandinavian Enviro Systems (Enviro), Thomas Sörensson, participated in a panel on the role of sustainability and particularly recovered carbon black (rCB) alongside executives from world-leading manufacturers Michelin and Bridgestone on 22 November 2021. The presentation was given at Smithers Recovered Carbon Black Conference, an international conference in Amsterdam.
Big Atom is celebrating a major breakthrough in its attempt to “revolutionise” the tyre recycling process after receiving a £350,000 grant from Innovate UK. The clean-tech recycling company, which already boasts the North West’s second largest tyre recycling plant, has been given the cash injection to develop its patented chemical reactor technology, which will convert old waste tyres into new materials.
The Tyre Recovery Association (TRA) has spoken out to endorse the move Australian government’s move to prohibit the export of most unprocessed end-of-life tyres from December 2021. The only exception will be casings suitable for retreading or validated reuse. In addition, Peter Taylor, secretary general of the TRA urged DEFRA Secretary of state George Eustice MP to closely study this change in Australian law and consider whether the UK should follow a similar path:
From 1 December 2021, new laws in Australia will extend a ban on waste exports out of the country to tyres. It follows a cessation of unprocessed waste glass and mixed plastic exports earlier in the year. Reporting this measure, Tyre Stewardship Australia says the change is part of a broader commitment by the Australian Government to reduce waste, increase recycling rates and build capacity in Australia’s recycling industry.
17 years of dumping has amassed a “tyre graveyard” over 42 million vehicle tyres in Kuwait. According to EuroNews.Green, this has resulted in clouds of toxic black smoke when set alight, creating an “immense environmental risk for residents”.
CM Shredders has installed a new high-capacity automated tyre shredding system for the Southeastern Public Service Authority (SPSA) in Suffolk, Virginia, USA.
Hankook Tire is collaborating with Korean footwear brand Yase to launch a range of eco-friendly shoes made using recycled tyres. This ‘Zero – Leave Nothing Behind’ project offers those still too young to drive the opportunity to get to know Hankook Tire – the tyre maker expects the products will “resonate with customers who are early adopters and are conscious about the environment.”
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Cheshire Fire Service
SEPA
Ellie Burgin; Pexels
Florian Berger; Pixabay
E Bouman; Squarespace
Murfitts Industries
CM Shredders