Waste tires recycling line

There are a few ways in which tires can be reused or recycled. There are large differences in-laws and regulations worldwide with the aim to encourage or discourage different methods.

 

One way of reusing tires is retreading tires, thereby extending the tire’s lifecycle. Using waste tires is as a landfill is still a popular way of disposing of waste tires. Since tires are not biodegradable, governments globally instead encourage recycling in different ways. One way is to de-bead the tire (i.e. removing the steel bead), cutting it, and stamping it into products like shims or belts.

By downsizing the tires many recycling opportunities open.

 

Tire shreds (approx. 50-300 mm).

Tire shreds, also called tire-derived aggregate, are for example a useful size when transporting used tires as they need less space, and thereby the transporting costs are reduced. One of the characteristics of tires as a recyclable material is its high burning value. Shredded or chipped tires are therefore often used as tire-derived fuel (TDF) within e.g. cement manufacturing, as a supplement to wood within the pulp and paper industry or as a supplement fuel in electric power utilities.
 

Tire Derived Aggregate, TDA (approx. 50-300 mm).

TDA (depending on size) is a low-cost material intended for use in civil engineering applications like lightweight fill for e.g. embankments or vibration reduction under light rail tracks.

 

Tire chips or rubber mulch (down to approx. 12 mm).

The chips can also be used for the same TDF applications as tire shred – with the additional benefit of more steel have been removed. The rubber chips can also be used for “equestrian” (i.e. rubber mixed with sand or sawdust used in the horse industry as a ground in the stable or at the tracks). Equestrian protects the legs of the horses and is a big industry in for example UK.

 

Rubber granules (also called crumb rubber or rubber mulch).

The size of rubber granules often depends on customer requirements - e.g. 0.8 to 1.6 mm or 1.6 to 3.2 mm. A high-quality rubber granule is characterized by low textile content, low steel content, and high consistency in size. The rubber granulate can as an example is used in the production of rubber mat and molded products. It is also used in sports fields and artificial turfs in for example soccer, golf, and athletic tracks.

 

Rubber powder.

The powder is for example used in the asphalt industry for “Rubber Paved Asphalt”. 

 

Steel (also called wire or chord).

Steelworks worldwide regularly use recycled steel produced by tire recycling plants.

 

Textile.

The liberated textile has a very high effective burning value since it consists of nylon and rubber powder. It can, therefore, be mixed with other materials to increase that material’s effective burning value. As an example - the cement industry mix the textile with alternative fuel with lower effective burning value (e.g. wood, carton, paper, plastic). Some cement plants also use it for cleaning out the sludge from the rotation owns, since the temperature while burning, cause the sludge to burn; hence the owner does not have to be closed for manual cleaning. Finally, the textile can be used as noise insulation and to reduce vibration in industrial plants.