A series of projects and trials investigating the properties and potential applications of new products made from used tire waste are now underway with support from the Waste & Resources Action Programme.
The successful proposals were selected for funding through an Open Tender competition and two of the projects are specifically focused on investigating new ways of retreading truck tires using recycled tire crumb.
Rubber Recovery Ltd, based in Barnsley, is investigating the production of a retread compound with significant recycled content. The company will be developing a process that adds specially formulated polymers to the recycled rubber crumb, enabling it to become chemically reactive again with virgin compounds. The retread compound will be used on truck and earthmover tires.
In the second project, operational trials of a retread tire produced using an alternative technology are being undertaken by Crumb Rubber Ltd of Devon. The company's ambient mechanical abrasive process is producing an ultra fine powder which is expected to show improved interactivity with virgin rubber blends. The improved performance characteristics of the powder are expected to lead to higher potential inclusion rates in virgin rubber blends.
David Young, Managing Director of Crumb Rubber, said: "This project will now test under commercial conditions, the performance of different levels of recycled powder in retread compounds. Once we've established the most promising blends, we will be testing them on a local fleet of delivery trucks "