Re-Tyre director Robert Kellow said that working with the county’s waste disposal company County Environmental Services made a great deal of sense. “Since the introduction of the EU Landfill Directive, we have established regular collection patterns to ensure a consistent collection service is provided without compromise. This process shows how proactive Cornwall is when it comes to waste recycling.”
“Fantastic”
“It was fantastic news to learn about Re-Tyre and now with 440 tyres being collected from our recycling sites per week, Mr Kellow has made it possible to meet the requirement of the Landfill Directive,” said Luci Isaacson, recycling manager for CES.
Ms Isaacson said that the vast majority of used car tyres are sent for processing by tyre dealers. When householders have waste tyres they can take them to the 12 of the 13 household recycling sites although traders need to contact Re-Tyre direct.
The Re-Tyre recycling plant in Pool is capable of processing whole car and light commercial tyres to a metal free chip and crumb of three different grades at a rate of 130 per hour. The chip is used for equestrian surfacing and the crumb for playground and road surfacing, moulding and sports pitch repair.
Re-Tyre also recycles metal wheel rims, sending them to local metals recycler Henry Orchard & Sons. The price charged by the company for tyre recycling varies from about 60-70p per car tyre to 10 per tractor tyre.
Granulator
Mr Kellow said that due to increasing demand for tyre crumb, the company is about to choose new tyre granulating equipment. “Demand is getting greater. I am looking to increase the throughput of the plant and a granulator will open new markets for us,” he said. Re-Tyre currently shreds tyres using equipment supplied by Advanced Recycling Solutions, but the company is reviewing a range of different granulator suppliers.
“The granulator will enable us to produce bigger quantities of a uniform sized metal free rubber crumb. It was a natural progression towards our aim of eventually creating whole new recycled products all on one site, as a result providing the complete ‘grave to cradle’ service.”
Markets
Re-Tyre have also been working with ReMade Kernow to establish further markets for its tyre product and trials were carried out last year for use as an additive in road surfacing.
The relationship with ReMade also resulted in the product being used as rubber mulch as part of recycled product display garden that exhibited at Hampton Court Flower Show last summer. This product, ‘Re-Scape’, can be purchased from some garden centres in Cornwall.
Mr Kellow explained: “The mulch is a replacement for bark chippings, which rob plants of moisture, are a breeding ground for insects and decompose quickly. The mulch retains water in soil, is a weed suppressant, is good for drainage and animals don't use it.”
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