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Orion S.A. Installs TPO Tanks at Polish Plant

Ewan Scott
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Orion S.A. Installs TPO Tanks at Polish Plant

Orion S.A.  a global specialty chemicals producer, is installing multiple tyre pyrolysis oil tanks at its plant in Jaslo, Poland – the company’s latest move toward boosting production of circular carbon black

The tanks will serve as reception points for TPO delivered to the plant. The TPO will be pumped from the tanks to furnace black reactors, which transform the oil into circular carbon black.

Orion is the only producer in its industry that has made carbon black from 100 per cent TPO. The company makes a range of circular grades that are commercially available and suitable for a wide scope of applications.

The circular process addresses a major challenge for the tyre industry, which has long tried to develop ways to recycle old tyres and mitigate the environmental burden caused by tyre waste.

Orion’s journey toward sustainable manufacturing has been a collaborative effort with other companies dedicated to advancing environmental stewardship. Central to this approach is the synergy forged with partner organisations involved in TPO production.

“Our partnership with TPO producers underscores our shared commitment to sustainability and innovation,” said Pedro Riveros, senior vice president of Global Rubber Carbon Black at Orion. “Through collective action, we are driving positive change across the industry value chain, from tire waste management to resource recovery.” 

SDAB Launches New Website

Ewan Scott
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SDAB Launches New Website

Since SDAB took over tyre recycling in Sweden on 1 January 2023, much has happened to change the face of Swedish tyre recycling

New facilities have been built, IT systems for the collection of worn-out tyres have been implemented, showrooms have been established, artistic collaborations have been developed, and a completely new focus on creating value has begun to be realised. Updating the website was a natural step to communicate all these new and existing efforts.

“Our ambition was to find a balance between a website that stands out and feels unexpected for our industry, while also sparking curiosity and interest in visitors, regardless of their previous experience in the field. With a topic as extensive as tyre recycling, it was important to create a primary communication channel that conveys information clearly and simply, without compromising on aesthetics,” says Frida Grunewald, Communications Manager at SDAB.

The new website provides the opportunity to learn more about tyre recycling both nationally and internationally, producer responsibility, tyre recycling facilities around Sweden, the material’s properties and applications, how to submit worn-out producer responsibility tyres, environmental and sustainability work, design and art collaborations, and much more. Please note that the website is currently in Swedish, but a translation will be considered in the autumn.

Granuband Acquired by Circtec

Ewan Scott
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Granuband Acquired by Circtec

Circtec acquires Granuband creating integrated collection and feedstock supply capability for chemical recycling of end-of-life tyres

Circtec Ltd has acquired Granuband B.V., one of the main end-of-life tyre collection and recycling companies in the Benelux region, thus ensuring feedstock supplies for Circtec.

Circtec Ltd, one of the global leaders in end-of-life tyre chemical recycling through pyrolysis technology has acquired Granuband B.V., a leading Netherlands end-of-life tyre collection and recycling company. With a substantial recycling plant in the industrial port of Amsterdam, capable of processing 50,000 tonnes per year of end-of-life tyres into granulate, moulded products and tyre chips, Granuband is one of the main end-of-life tyre recycling companies in the Benelux region.

Granuband has been incorporated into the Circtec group and will now manage the feedstock requirements for Circtec’s new plant under construction at Delfzijl, The Netherlands. Additionally, it will continue to operate production of moulded rubber products, meaning that Circtec group now produces a full range of end-of-life tyre recycling products, from both mechanical and chemical recycling, including granulate, moulded products, recovered carbon black, circular petrochemical feedstock and refined renewable fuels. Circtec is the first company globally to have the integrated capability at industrial scale to produce a full range of both mechanical and chemical end-of-life tyre recycling products. Maarten van Randeraat, the founder and Managing Director of Granuband will remain with the company, joining Circtec to head up the feedstock supply function for the group.

Circtec previously announced that construction of their Delfzijl plant had started at a project launch ceremony last month, following successful completion of a €150 million funding round. The acquisition of Granuband means that Circtec has created a value chain that is fully vertically integrated, allowing a single company to collect end-of-life tyres at the point of arising in the Benelux region, and process them all the way through to supply back to industry of high value recycled chemicals and renewable fuel products, including recovered carbon black for the manufacture of new tyres. This closes the recycling loop enabling Circtec to offer unrivalled traceability, product control and environmental transparency in the chemical recycling sector.

The Granuband plant in Amsterdam is one of Europe’s most sophisticated end-of-life tyre mechanical recycling plants, with automated tyre selection, robotic production and direct access to bulk marine transport in the industrial port of Amsterdam. The deep-water port logistical capability means that end- of-life tyres can also be brought in from across Europe by ship for processing and supply to the Delfzijl plant, giving Circtec a Europe-wide logistical reach. The technological capability and intellectual property acquired into the group will also give Circtec the capability to produce recycled

chemical products with traceability back to individual tyre manufacturers’ tyres through automated sorting of end-of-life tyres.

Allen Timpany, CEO and Cofounder of Circtec, said: “It is an important step that Granuband has become part of the Circtec group; it enables us to take control of our feedstock requirements going forward, and to close the loop of circularity from the point that end-of-life tyres come off vehicles in Europe all the way through to the supply of new recycled chemicals to industry. This vertically integrated strategy is a key part of Circtec’s growth plans to scale-up the business and take a significant market share of the European end-of-life tyre recycling sector.”

Maarten Van Randeraat, Managing Director and Founder at Granuband, said: “I am delighted that the end-of-life tyre collection and recycling business that I built over thirty-five years in the Benelux region has a bright future as part of the Circtec group. Having looked at the competing technology and models for the last few years, I concluded that Circtec was the right home for Granuband going forward as the sector evolves and I am excited about the opportunities to lead the feedstock development strategy of Circtec over the coming years.”

TRAC Announces 2024 Industry Leadership Awards Winners

Ewan Scott
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TRAC Announces 2024 Industry Leadership Awards Winners

The Tire and Rubber Association of Canada (TRAC) is pleased to recognise outstanding individuals and businesses for their dedication and commitment to excellence in the tyre and rubber industry including end-of-life (ELT) tyre management and other businesses focused on sustainability

The TRAC Awards Ceremony took place following the Association’s Annual General Meeting on June 6, 2026, at the Association’s offices at the Alt Hotel Toronto Airport in Mississauga.
 
The 2024 Industry Leadership Awards recognised leadership in the following categories: Leader of the Year, Lifetime Achievement, Sustainability, and Young Leader.
 
“The Canadian tyre and rubber industries as well as ELT management businesses are filled with talent, experience, and history, and our 2024 winners prove it. We are pleased to celebrate six individuals who have demonstrated leadership and excellence, and whose contribution to the tyre and rubber industry in the areas of business, innovation, and sustainability had been simply outstanding,” said Carol Hochu, President and CEO of TRAC.

Neste Puts Tyres Back into Cars

Ewan Scott
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Neste Puts Tyres Back into Cars

Neste, Borealis, and Covestro are closing the loop for the automotive industry through a new collaboration

Finland-based Neste and Austria’s Borealis are chemically recycling tyres at the end of life into base chemicals that Germany-based Covestro then uses to produce polycarbonate.

The group is taking tyre pyrolysis oil (TPO) as the basis for its collaboration. The TPO has been sourced from Scandinavian Enviro Systems, who are in the process of upscaling to a full sized pyrolisis plant at Uddevalla in Sweden.

Neste then refines the TPO into a high-quality raw material for chemicals and polymers manufacturing.

Neste supplies Borealis with the refined pyrolysis oil. Borealis then processes it into base chemicals phenol and acetone, which Covestro finally uses to produce polycarbonate. The material is then used to make new car parts like headlamps and radiator grills, with recycled content being attributed via an ISCC-plus certified mass-balance method.

“Circularity requires cooperation, and this cooperation with our partners Neste and Borealis is testament to the possibilities at our disposal,” said Guido Naberfeld, senior vice president, head of sales and market development mobility at Covestro. “We are creating options to turn old tyres into new car parts again. With that, we are supporting our automotive customers and addressing an increasingly prominent question discussed across the value chain: How to match high-performance materials with recycled content? Projects like this can be the answer.”

The companies said in a statement that the potential to scale-up these types of developments should be considered when setting ambitious targets for future EU regulations, such as the End-of-Life Vehicles Regulation. That regulation mandates, for example, that 25 per cent of plastic used to build new vehicles is recycled.

“This project can serve as a blueprint when it comes to establishing circularity in the field of plastics in cars,” said Jeroen Verhoeven, vice president value chain development for polymers and chemicals at Neste. “It shows how low-quality waste materials can be turned into very high-quality plastics. This is good news for the polymers and automotive industries as well as for the environment,” he concluded.

SIGNUS Sees 33% Reduction in its Carbon Footprint over Three Years

Ewan Scott
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SIGNUS Sees 33% Reduction in its Carbon Footprint over Three Years

The Carbon Footprint Record is of a voluntary nature and recognises the efforts of organisations such as SIGNUS in the calculation, reduction and compensation of the emissions of climate change gases generated from their activity

SIGNUS registered for the first time, at the Spanish Office of Climate Change, the carbon footprint fort its activity in 2017. SIGNUS was the first collective management responsibility system is carried out with the aim of improving the environmental management of ELT, not only by finding more applications for the resulting sub-products, but also by involving all the actors involved in the different operations of the management in order to improve its energy efficiency. For this reason, SIGNUS incorporates, in its entirety, the requirement of all its collection and treatment service selection processes, the obligation to comply with carbon dioxide emission measurements.

SIGNUS has recently measured and recorded the organisation’s climate warming gas emissions relative to its generated activity in 2022. Thanks to the planning and implementation of the measures considered in its Reduction Plan, it has quantified an emissions reduction of 33 per cent in the 2020-2022 three-year period, compared to the 2019-2021 three-year period, for levels 1+2. The data shows that SIGNUS’s initiatives in this matter are effective in achieving the goal of minimising the carbon footprint by demonstrating its commitment to decarbonisation.

The result of the certified medical examination has entitled SIGNUS to obtain two of the three stamps issued by the Spanish Climate Change Office (Calculation, Reduction and Compensation) related to the decarbonisation commitment of Spanish companies by 2050.

BIR Tyres & Rubber Committee Sees Change in Tyre Recycling

Ewan Scott
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BIR Tyres & Rubber Committee Sees Change in Tyre Recycling

At the recent BIR conference in Copenhagen, much discussion was given to the changing market for pyrolysis

In a relatively short period of time, pyrolysis has evolved from having “a very bad reputation” to becoming “a real solution” for end-of-life tyres (ELTs) through its increasingly sophisticated delivery of a range of highly sustainable raw materials, declared Robert Weibold in his opening remarks to the BIR Tyres & Rubber Committee session in Copenhagen on May 28.

Figures provided by the Managing Director of Austria-based tyre recycling and pyrolysis consultancy Robert Weibold GmbH indicated that annual global production of tyre pyrolysis oil (TPO), untreated char, and milled and pelletised recovered carbon black (rCB) currently amounted to, respectively, 1.7 million tons, 1.2 million tons and 180,000 tons from a tyre feedstock of 4.5 million tons.

According to Weibold, he expected annual rCB production to top 500,000 tons in three to five years. The final product can substitute virgin carbon black (vCB) in a range of applications, including the butyl liners, liner backings, sidewalls and treads incorporated into new tyres. Demand for rCB was “growing sharply” and its pelletised price had gradually decoupled from that of vCB, the speaker pointed out.

Demand pressure was also decoupling TPO from crude oil-based prices in more and more regions, according to Weibold. Although the vast majority of TPO was still being used as fuel, the focus was slowly shifting to closed-loop applications.

Europe’s annual ELT pyrolysis capacity is currently only 62,400 tons of ELTs – equivalent to 1.4% of the global total. However, Europe’s rapid emergence as an ELT pyrolysis hub would see the continent’s capacity surge to 671,900 tons per annum – or 11% of the estimated world figure – in three to five years from now.

Following on from Weibold’s assertion that investors and multi-nationals were taking an ever-greater interest in this field, BIR Tyres & Rubber Committee Chairman Max Craipeau of China-based Greencore Resources Ltd noted that pyrolysis was also gaining traction in the USA. “It is starting to become a very attractive industry,” he said. “It is no longer the poor relation of the recycling industry.”

As well as being the venue for the latest BIR Convention, Denmark is also home to the world’s largest tyre recycling company, Genan A/S, which processes up to 150,000 ELTs per day. The company’s Application Development Manager Michael Christensen provided details of some of the company’s ELT-derived products – including micronised rubber powder, granulate, pellets, rubber modifier and coated infill – as well as some of its latest research projects. For example, tests were currently taking place with a major car manufacturer to assess the use in absorbers of the textiles which make up around 10 per cent of the output fractions from ELT processing.

Comparing the environmental benefits of material recycling to co-incineration in cement kilns, Christensen put the greenhouse gas saving at 700 kg of CO2 per tonne of tyres.

Products from ELTs had been rendered “cool” or even “sexy” by developments in Sweden, according to Craipeau. He made this observation following a presentation by Fredrik Ardefors, CEO of Swedish tyre recycling organisation SDAB, in which the role of innovation in extracting maximum value from ELTs was highlighted. SDAB has supported the creation of a range of products – from highly practical developments such as rubber concrete to highly desirable fashion items such as shoes and bags.

To help build customer confidence, “we talk of selling re-purposed performance material, not tyre-derived”, said Ardefors. SDAB is also behind an End-of-Life Tyre Research Portal (ELTRP) that enables easy access to scientific facts about the material, covering chemical composition, performance, material usage, health/environment and products.

Given the early success of this value creation approach, said Ardefors, the aim was for an “aggressive” reduction in eco-fees over the coming years.

ACCC Proposes to Reauthorise Tyre Stewardship Australia

Ewan Scott
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ACCC Proposes to Reauthorise Tyre Stewardship Australia

The ACCC is proposing to grant authorisation for the Tyre Product Stewardship scheme to continue for a further 3 years

The Tyre Stewardship Australia (TSA) implemented scheme aims to increase the number of tyres being recycled and the use of tyre derived products in environmentally appropriate ways in Australia and overseas.

Since the ACCC first authorised the scheme in 2013, TSA has collected a levy from participating tyre importers and retailers and has directed over $9 million of funding to projects. TSA also raises awareness of the value of recycled tyres and the use of sustainable tyre-derived materials.

“Continuation of the scheme will lead to a reduction in the number of tyres being stockpiled, dumped in landfills or being burned for fuel in an environmentally unsustainable fashion. It will likely result in environmental, public health and safety benefits,” ACCC Deputy Chair Mick Keogh said.

“Reducing stockpiles of tyres also lowers the risk of illegal and unregulated fires, toxic gases and chemicals leaching into local environments as well as removing breeding grounds for pests such as mosquitos and other vermin.”

“This is a growing problem as the number of tyres reaching end of life each year in Australia has increased rapidly, from 143,000 tonnes in 2018-19 to 225,000 tonnes in 2022-23,” Mr Keogh said.

The ACCC notes TSA’s concern that the voluntary nature of the scheme limits its effectiveness. A number of companies who import or manufacture tyres or vehicles, or who sell tyres, have chosen not to participate. As have most mining companies, where their remote location significantly increases the cost of transporting end of life tyres to recycling facilities.

“The ACCC encourages TSA to consider ways to encourage greater involvement from all sectors of the industry, particularly mining companies, to take part in the scheme,” Mr Keogh said.

With the current authorisation to expire on 15 June, the ACCC has granted interim authorisation to allow the Scheme to continue while the ACCC completes its assessment.

The ACCC is seeking submissions in response to the draft determination by 28 June 2024 before making its final decision.

Australian Ban of the Export of Whole Tyres is Flouted

Ewan Scott
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Australian Ban of the Export of Whole Tyres is Flouted

Despite the ban on whole tyre exports, tyres and other wastes continue to be exported from Australia

A joint operation between the Australian Border Force and the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water has resulted in the seizure of 730 tonnes of waste tyres in the past 12 months.

Part of the cause was the demand from some markets for a feedstock of tyres to supply pyrolysis plants in countries where environmental standards were not as strict as they are in Australia.

“The illegal export of waste is a lucrative business where exporters are motivated by higher profits in overseas markets that don’t apply the same environmental standards as Australia, or by potential financial savings through waste dumping overseas,” the spokesperson said.

“The profit drivers associated with the illegal export of waste threaten the uptake of onshore recycling and waste management by legitimate Australian processors who operate facilities in a safe and accountable way.”

Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek said the illegal export of waste is an environmental crime that carries a huge risk to the environment and human health.

“We’ve seen some bad-faith actors who want to export waste, like tyres, for profit to countries with more lenient environment laws,” she said.

“It can mean tyres being processed in an unsafe way, resulting in the emission of carbon and toxic gases.”

2021 regulations require Australian companies to have a licence to export tyres, and can only do so for specific purposes. Tyres can be exported for reuse or retreading, while tyres processed into shreds or crumbs can be used for tyre-derived fuel. Whole tyres cannot be legsally exported for use in pyrolysis plants.

“Australia’s waste management policies all lead to disposal outcomes, basically incineration and chemical recycling, but we don’t have those infrastructures set up yet, so we export a lot of it,” she said.

According to an article in The Brisbane Times; Waste Management and Resource Recovery Association of Australia chief executive Gayle Sloan said exports were necessary as Australia imported most of its tyres.

“We do need to find global markets for products we don’t manufacture ourselves,” she said.

Sloan said most waste management companies were legitimate operators, and illegal exports were rare.

“There’s a lot of transparency in the waste export management stream because most countries now have inspectors at their borders, too. You can’t export material that’s low quality because it will get sent back, and that’s a massive cost,” she said.

“It’d be cheaper to dump it for an unscrupulous operator, rather than putting it on a ship – the financial risk is too large.”

Yet, the reality is that exports of whole tyres do still take place and there is ample evidence that controls at the point of import are not quite what they should be.

The situation could largely have been resolved had the Indian government not watered down its EPR scheme to the point that it placed no realistic restrictions on imports.

Saudi Minister of Transport Launches Rubber Asphalt Initiative for Hajj Sites

Ewan Scott
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Saudi Minister of Transport Launches Rubber Asphalt Initiative for Hajj Sites

Saudi Minister of Transport and Logistic Services and Roads General Authority Chairman of the Board of Directors Eng. Saleh bin Nasser Al-Jasser launched an initiative of using flexible rubber asphalt in pedestrian walkways at the holy sites for this year’s Hajj (1445 AH)

The aim is to improve the pilgrims’ public health and enhance their quality of life.
The Roads General Authority explained that this scientific innovation was implemented in collaboration with various entities on the road parallel to pedestrian path No. 6 leading to Mount Arafat. The technology utilises recycled rubber, derived from the recycling of tyres in asphalt mixtures, which helps in reducing tyre waste accumulation and minimises pollution resulting from tyre burning.
The authority pointed out that experiments have demonstrated that the hardness of standard asphalt surfaces and sidewalks causes discomfort and issues for the ankles and feet of pilgrims, especially the elderly, who comprise 53 per cent of the total pilgrims. Consequently, this has led to increased demand for health facilities during the Hajj season, with 38 per cent of injuries concentrated in the foot and ankle area. The use of this technology is expected to reduce pressure on the ankles and feet, providing a sense of comfort while walking, ultimately leading to an improvement in the public health of the pilgrims and enhancing their quality of life.

Source: Saudi Press Agency

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