Innovative systems to implement a circular model in tire production by recycling end-of-life tires and production scraps

PROJECT DESCRIPTION

BACKGROUND

The tire industry represents a major burden for the environment due both to the resources and energy consumed during production and to the end-of-life management of tires. End-of-life tires (hereinafter ELT) are defined as tires no longer usable on vehicles and, if not properly managed, represent a threat for the environment. Over the last 20 years, recovery rates for ELT have increased worldwide, partly thanks to the industry initiative of establishing national Extended Producer Responsibility schemes. As a result, only8% of the ELT are disposed of in landfills nowadays or have unknown recovery routes. However, despite this positive trend, several barriers hinder a more effective spread of ELT recycling. First, it is difficult and expensive to separate rubber from the high strength textile cords of the tires, as there are no industrial routes that recycle clean secondary rubber within a quality suitable to be reused in tire production. Moreover, tire production generates significant amounts of scrap components that are considered waste.

OBJECTIVES

The overall objective of the LIFE TIRE2TIRECYCLE project is to demonstrate and bring to the market two innovative systems, one to reclaim and reuse rubber from ELT and the other to rework and reuse scraps from tire production.

The specific objectives are to:

Demonstrate a system to reclaim and reuse rubber from ELT (the RECYCLE system) in the facility of ELSY in Italy, through a small-capacity plant (50 kg/h);

Upscale the RECYCLE system to a full-scale plant (300 kg/h) in the facility of Vibracoustic in Germany;

Demonstrate a system to rework and reuse scraps of tire production (the REWORK system) at full-scale (2 500 kg/h) in the facility of Goodyear in Germany;

Carry out an LCA in collaboration with Goodyear and Vibracoustic to analyse the new recycling routes made possible by the RECYCLE and REWORK systems and compare them with the best available technologies.

 

The project will contribute to the following EU policies: Landfill Directive (1999/31/EC), Waste Framework Directive (2008/98/EC) and its revision (2018/851/EC), Circular Economy Action Plan, and Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) policy tool.

RESULTS

Expected results:

One small-scale demonstrator of the RECYCLE system (50 kg/h);

One full-scale demonstrator of the RECYCLE system (300 kg/h);

One full-scale demonstrator of the REWORK system (2 500 kg/h);

Avoided consumption of raw materials (virgin and synthetic rubber, minerals and others): 15 048 t/year;

Avoided waste: 6 204 t/year;

Avoided GHG emissions: 12 476 t/year; and

Saved energy: 181.1 GJ/year.