The 10-acre site, at Mill Green in Knighton on the Shropshire/Powys border, was previously used by the old Motorway Remould factory, which closed over two years ago.
Licensed by the Environment Agency to take up to 75,000 tonnes, the facility is now being re-opened as a tyre waste transfer station by new owner Robin Sidebottom next week, trading under his company Mainstone Properties.
The facility already has some contracts to take in waste tyres from hauliers as soon as it opens on Monday, but the 80,000 square foot facility will be open to others wishing to dispose of truck tyres.
Mr Sidebottom is now hoping to attract companies to make use of the truck tyres, which unlike car tyres are mostly made from natural rubber.
Speaking to letsrecycle.com, Mr Sidebottom said: “We have a local population with a great knowledge of tyres because of the old Motorway Remould business, so it would be perfect here for quite a major player or several smaller firms to set up shop. There are all sorts of side benefits, including the Welsh Development Agency which is very keen to put money into this sort of venture.”
There is also a possibility of building raile access as a 750m stretch of the Heart of Wales Line borders the site and the operators, claimed Mr Sidebottom, are keen to develop access facilities.
Mr Sidebottom is expecting a great deal of interest after the ban on sending whole tyres to landfill began in July last year, while even shredded tyres will no longer be permitted in landfills from July 2006 under the Landfill Directive.
He said he is already discussing possibilities with an American company concerning the possibility of using tyres to make a special kind of asphalt for surfacing roadways.
“Using rubber in asphalt has been tried in England, but it was never done right,” Mr Sidebottom explained. “Using the right kind of rubber, though, it can work – you just have to break it down into very small pieces – half a millimetre or so in size.”
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