The slow, painful birth of the waste strategy

Tyre recycler Wastefront has partnered with Newcastle University to assist in the recovery of the additive carbon black.

Wastefront is building a £100m tyre recycling plant in Sunderland, due for completion in 2025, which will take around 20% of the UK’s annual end-of-life-tyres (ELTs) and produce recovered carbon black (rCB) and other commodities.

The study will focus on rCB interaction with rubbers and its correlation with prospective industrial applications, as well as develop methods to reduce inorganic components, improving its chemical and material properties.

The Norwegian company uses pyrolytic reactors that employ thermal depolymerisation to break down the tyres and recover carbon black, combustible gas, liquid hydrocarbon, and heat. The rCB is washed and milled to improve its chemical properties and can be used in natural rubber in tyre production, mechanical rubber goods or as a filler for plastics.

Wastefront’s aim is to develop a circular economy around ELTs, and prevent the tyres from being burnt in cement kilns.

It said the collaboration with scientists and researchers at the university will assist in that. The company claims that by integrating rCB into new tyres, emissions are reduced for each tyre by 80%.

Wastefront chief technical officer Henrik Selstam said: “Circularity is central to the work Wastefront is undertaking to tackle the scourge of ELTs - and expanding our understanding of recovered carbon black is key to realising this goal. As we continue to grow, so too will the uses and capabilities of the products we produce - none more so than recovered carbon black.”

Experts at the university that Wastefront will be working with include Professor Katarina Novakovic, principal investigator, reader in polymer engineering; Professor Steve Bull, co-investigator, Cookson Group chair of engineering materials; Dr Deepashree Thumbarathy, post-doctoral research associate, chemical engineer; Dr Tim Blackburn business development manager.

Selstam added: “Ensuring we can continue to implement our at-scale solution in the UK, Europe and globally will require the input of leading experts in their fields.”

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