The Enhance fund aims to support “green” services in London and has enabled the independent company to buy an Eldan super-chopper and rasper machine for its site.
Since being installed in September, the machines have attracted interest from customers including scrapyards, tyre collectors and tyre shops from both Edmonton and Park Royal.
The operation sees steel removed from the tyres for smelting, before the tyres are shredded for use in landscaping, horticulture and the equestrian industry.
Glyn Brooke, managing director and founder of London Tyre Recycling, explained: “The grant we have received for the tyre shredders from the Enhance Capital Fund is extremely important for the business. This will enable London Tyre Recycling to develop quickly and expand its offering to other businesses and local authorities, as well as potentially supply recycled rubber chips and granulate to use for the development of the 2012 Olympic Games.”
“The tyre market is so vast and it is our aim to process fewer tyres into a higher value product. We already have lots of customers and have received lots of interest already,” he added.
Particles
At the Edmonton site, the super-chopper machine reduced tyres into 150ml particles which are then reduced to 20ml particles by the rasper machine. These are then screened and marketed accordingly.
According to the government's Department for Business. Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (BERR), 131,000 scrap tyres are taken off cars, vans and trucks every day – accounting for more than 48 million a year. However, since July 2006, both whole and shredded tyres have been banned from landfill.
Hugh Smith, programme manager for development agency London Remade, which delivered the grant with London CRN, said: “The Enhance programme has awarded London Tyre Recycling with a capital grant for tyre shredding equipment to work in response to the EU landfill directive that bans most tyres from being sent to landfill.
He explained: “The funding will enable LTR to take used tyres from this priority waste stream and reprocess them into rubber chips that can be used to manufactures many new products.”
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