NISP saddened by “exemplar” tyres project situation

The Tyregenics facility, in Port Talbot, called in administrators in January 2009, less than two years after it opened as the UK's only tyre recycling plant to use cryogenics – or freezing – technology at a cost of £4 million (see letsrecycle.com story). It had been hailed by Birmingham-based NISP as “Europe's most advanced tyre recycling facility”. The administrators are optimistic that the plant will be sold for continued operation.

To establish the plant, NISP helped to bring together County Durham-based tyre recycler Credential Environmental and BOC Gases. It also helped Tyregenics to identify markets for some of the crumb and fibre which its cryogenics recycling process produced.

NISP described the project as: “A ground-breaking collaboration between NISP members is set to generate millions in sales revenue and reprocess thousands of tonnes of waste car tyres over the next 12 months in a textbook example of industrial symbiosis.”

In a statement sent to letsrecycle.com, NISP's programme director, Peter Laybourn, said: “As a business opportunity programme working to help companies find new ways to increase their profitability, it's always sad to hear about those businesses being forced into administration, even more so when it's one of our members.

“Tyregenics was the only cryogenics plant in Europe and therefore offered a unique and innovative method of shredding tyres for a variety of reuse options. However, as we are all aware, today's market is highly competitive and driven by price,” he added.

Last year, Ian Bryan, then the finance and operations director of the National Industrial Symbiosis Programme (NISP), highlighted how the project represented a partnership between a tyre recycler, reprocessors and end market which he would like to see more of in the recycling industry. Mr Bryan, who left NISP in November 2008, is an expert in the tyre sector and was managing director of Waste Tyre Solutions which is now absorbed into a division of Credential Environmental.

Contraction 

The administrator for Tyregenics, Begbies Traynor, blamed the facility's situation on a “sudden contraction” in the artificial sports surface market – the main end-market for the rubber crumb that the site was producing using the cryogenics freezing process.

The plant had originally been closed in November 2008 for a refurbishment and upgrade with a view to reopening for full-scale production in March 2009, but the administrators said that, with the market squeeze worsening during the down-time, the plant's projected demand fell “rapidly”.

Julian Pitts, a partner at the administrators, explained: “The sudden nature of the contraction in the company's key market has meant the company has been unable to capitalise on the progress it had been making in new markets.

“Although the company operates in a niche market within the recycling industry, the plant was set up at a substantial capital expense, which combined with its unique nature and capabilities, has created encouraging early interest.

“We are optimistic that the plant will be sold for continued operation in South Wales, which should save up to 20 local jobs,” he added.

Venture 

The Tyregenics plant was established as a joint venture between Credential Environmental, sports surface firm FieldTurf, technology company RTI Cryogenics Inc and BOC Gases, which supplied the liquid nitrogen used to freeze tyres as part of the recycling process.

It was allocated £1.4 million in funding from the Welsh European office, and had aimed to process around a tenth of the 50 million waste tyres arising in the UK every year, equivalent to 30,000 tonnes.

The plant uses tyres shredded at Credential's Yorkshire and West Midlands' plants and the tyre shred would then be shattered and screened before undergoing a magnetic separation process dividing it into high value rubber crumb, metal and fibre. Up to 70% of the rubber crumb was to be sold to Toronto based FieldTurf Inc to produce artificial sports surfaces.

Last year, Nick Wyatt  managing director of Tyregenics, said: “NISP has been involved throughout the development of this scheme, facilitating the link between BOC and Credential. Now that the plant is operational, we're continuing to work with NISP to identify new markets for the fibre and for the remaining crumb in applications that replace virgin rubber, which can cost up to £1,000 a tonne.”

Ailsa3

Credential is part-owned by Yorkshire-based venture capital fund Ailsa3 which through Credential took a major shareholding in Tyregenics.  Credential was to have supplied 3 million tyres a year for five years to the plant.