Rubber Recycling Company Purchases Land

A Wisconsin-based tire recycling company was among those who purchased tracts of land as part of the auction of National Refractories on Saturday.

Rebound Rubber Recycling, located in Columbus, Wis., purchased both the Mexico, Mo., and Wellsville, Mo., brick plants for $384,000. The company bought 213 acres of land at the Mexico plant including buildings, offices, and laboratories and 75 acres of Wellsville land.

According to Dave Boone, Mexico director of Economic Development, Rebound Rubber plans to convert National into a tire recycling plant.

"We've had several meetings with them and they expect to start operations there soon," said Boone. "They've already done a lot of work, but they just need to do some retrofitting,"

Boone called National's sale "a fortunate opportunity."

"No question we were fortunate because it's so limited what you can do with an antique facility like that," said Boone. "It just so happens that the equipment in the plant can be used in tire recycling."

Boone believes that Rebound Rubber could create 15 to 20 new jobs in the area.

It's definitely a good thing because of the fact that it creates jobs for people who need economic opportunities," said Boone.

Rebound Rubber Recycling has collected and processed thousands of used automobile tires from tire dealers since 1991 in southern Wisconsin.

According to the company's Web site, the bulk of the tires are shredded to produce crumb rubber for uses such as rubberized asphalt, highway/railroad crossing pads, and a replacement for sand in playgrounds.

A portion of the recycled tires are resold as used tires and others are used for a variety of agriculture and industrial needs. Mexico (Missouri) Ledger