The company, a joint venture between tyre manufacturer Michelin and cement manufacturer Lafarge Cement, said it will turn about 14 million tyres into fuel for cement-making in 2004.
Jamie Randall, managing director at Sapphire, said: “Last year we processed 73,000 tonnes of tyres from across the UK. We're the only processor that has a true nation-wide capability of taking tyres from the industry. This year we will process in excess of 100,000 tyres.”
As well as displacing 100,000 tonnes of coal from fuelling cement kilns – important as the cement industry seeks to cut greenhouse emissions – the increase in recovery will help with restrictions on the landfilling of waste tyres under the Landfill Directive.
The landfilling of whole tyres has, since July 2003, already been banned while the landfilling of shredded tyres will no longer be an option after July 2006. Modern tyres are engineered with road safety in mind, which makes them virtually indestructible and non-biodegradable.
Sapphire, a member of the Tyre Industry Council and the Responsible Recycler Scheme, began collecting tyres in 2001, processing 17,000 tonnes in that year, increasing to 42,000 tonnes in 2002.
The company has a national network of collection centres for waste tyres, where they are shredded into chips for use as a fuel. These, and in some cases whole tyres, are used to fire kilns such as those at Lafarge Cement's Cauldon plant, near Stoke on Trent.
Mr Randall said: “With Sapphire we are creating the ability to serve the UK tyre industry nationwide with a solution that will replace landfill and to recover energy from scrapped tyres that would otherwise be lost.
“There is practically no waste, and no residue,” he said.
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