Tyre Disposal
At Tanvic we care about the environment and that's why we take every measure to ensure that our tyres are recycled or disposed of in the correct way.

Tyres account for around 3.5% of the weight of an average ELV, and as a controlled waste under the Environmental Protection Act 1990, a Duty of Care is placed upon waste producers to ensure that waste material is disposed of safely through registered carriers to licensed sites. According to the Used Tyre Working Group's 2001 survey 22% were recycled, 8.3% went to energy recovery, 9.9% were retreaded, 16% were reused and 3.3% were used in landfill engineering. The remainder (approximately 40%) will have been landfilled, stockpiled or illegally disposed of.

Tyre disposal options:

Waste prevention is a primary objective when looking for future developments in scrap tyre options. Ongoing research into improvements in tyre design and construction has resulted in the life expectancy of tyres continuing to lengthen.

•   Reuse of part-worn tyres

  Extracting the maximum safe life from a tyre saves valuable resources (oil, rubber, steel etc). Before the tyre can be resold it must be checked. Part-worn-tyres must have a minimum of 2mm tread remaining and be marked as part-worn on both sides at the time of sale. A survey in the northwest of England showed that 40% of part-worn tyres were illegal, in northwest London the figure was 20% of tyres sold.

•   Reuse through landfill engineering

  Whole tyres can be used in the preparation/construction of landfill sites, where they are used as leachate draining systems. Tyres used for this purpose are exempt from the landfill tax. Between 1998 and 1999 there was a 20% growth in the use of tyres for landfill engineering.

•   Recycling through retreading

  Manufacturing a retread tyre for an average car takes 4.5 gallons less oil than the equivalent new tyre and for commercial vehicle tyres the saving is estimated to be about 15 gallons per tyre. Car tyres can only be retreaded once but truck tyres can be retreaded up to three times.

  Despite the improved quality of retreads, there has been a continuing decline in the passenger car retread market. While the truck retread market remained steady at about 1 million tyres in 2000, car retread fell by 800,000 to 2.2 million tyres. The emergence of the budget tyre, leading to the disappearance of the price differential previously enjoyed by retreads has been one cause. It isn't always possible to retread tyres, for example some imported tyres are of a quality which is unsuitable for retreading and 60% of replaced tyres in the UK have been subject to excessive wear beyond the (UK) 1.6mm tread depth limit, which then makes them unsuitable for retreading. The Retreaders Manufacturers Association (RMA) would like to see enforcement of the tread depth law and the raising of public awareness to the dangers of driving on illegal tyres as this would result in tyres being recovered from vehicles before they suffer too much damage.

  The RMA believes it can meet a European Union retread target of 25% through a major publicity campaign to dispel the poor image retreads currently have with domestic car drivers. As an example to the general public and organisations which have fleets of cars, Government Departments have been requested to give equal consideration to retreads when replacing fleet vehicle tyres.

•   Recycling through grinding

  Grinding is the most widespread materials recovery process in the UK. In 1999 it is estimated that 83,000 tonnes of tyre were granulated. This process produces a range of crumb sizes through the progressive size reduction process with the energy used to break up tyres increasing as the particle size decreases. Crumb is used in sports and play surfaces, brake linings, landscaping mulch, carpet underlay, absorbents for wastes and shoe soles. Crumb can also be recycled in road asphalt. Rubberised asphalt can increase road elasticity, temperature range and resistance to oxidation, which can result in fewer ruts, potholes and cracks in the surface. In 2000 a crumb road was laid near Battle in East Sussex.

  Some crumb can be used in formulations with virgin rubber, but this is less than 5% of the total. Salford University in conjunction with Pirelli and Corus has produced a crumb 0.4mm in diameter, small enough to be recycled in tyres. Pirelli plans to increase the 5% rubber crumb content currently used in manufacture to 20% in 2006. Corus hopes to use the steel innards for smelting. For contact details of UK based companies involved in rubber crumbing and other recovery methods visit the Used Tyre Working Group website: www.tyredisposal.co.uk

•   Recycling through cryogenic fragmentation

  During cryogenic fragmentation, tyres are shredded and cooled to below minus 80 degrees C. A hammer mill then pounds the chips to separate the components. The resultant rubber granules can be used for athletics tracks, carpet underlay, playground surfaces and rubberised asphalt for road surfaces. The energy input required for such low temperatures is relatively high.

•   Recycling through de-vulcanisation

  Treating vulcanised rubber with heat or chemicals can produce devulcanised rubber, which can be used to replace part of the virgin material in automotive and cycle tyres, conveyor belts and footwear. The variety of uses for this rubber has been limited due to its unreactive nature leading to poor bonding/strength. However Australia's Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) has recently developed a process that alters the molecular bonding properties of the rubber and produces a material similar to PVC with a 50% recycled rubber content. Possible uses are for automotive components, building products, coatings, sealants and containers for hazardous waste. The developers believe it provides a valuable option for waste tyres.

•   Recycling through microwave technology

  Advance Molecular Agitation Technology (AMAT) have developed a prototype using microwave technology. This breaks the tyres into their original components. The steel is of grade A quality and can therefore be sold for recovery, the carbon and oil are also reusable. The amount of emissions produced are minimal. The first commercial scale prototype has a capacity of 2,000 tonnes of tyres a year.

•   Energy Recovery

  Tyres have a high calorific value, about 20% greater than that of coal, which on burning can be harnessed to produce energy.

•   Energy Recovery through pyrolysis

  Compared to recovery of energy by direct burning, pyrolysis is a self-contained process, which avoids the release of large volumes of combustion gases. This saves on the cost of cleaning or "scrubbing" systems needed with normal incineration to remove pollutants from the gases. It also means that the process can be controlled to recover products for resale.

  Coalite, based in Bolsover, Derbyshire intends to install six pyrolysis plants, each with a capacity to process up to 15,000 tonnes of tyres annually. At January 2002, one plant had been installed. Bevan Recycling based in Oxfordshire runs a small mobile plant which can be moved to large tyre dumps, rather than vast quantities of tyres having to be transported to the plant.  Energy Power Resources (EPR) also hopes to complete a pyrolysis plant by 2004 which will have an annual capacity of 60,000 tonnes providing electricity for 28,000 domestic customers.

•   Energy Recovery through incineration in cement kilns

  Tyres are able to replace up to about 25% of the coal which would otherwise be used in cement kilns, and reduce nitrogen oxide emissions. Cement kilns could provide a recovery option for up to half of the UK's total waste tyre arisings. The Used Tyre Working Group (UTWG) believe this recovery route will be key to achieving 100% tyre recovery by 2006. There is however some concern regarding dioxins, particulates and other airborne pollutants that are produced by these kilns. Rugby Cement had been trialling tyre burning however plans were halted over the health risks associated with these emissions. The risks are assessed before a site is approved to burn tyres. It can take up to 2 years for kilns to get a permit to burn tyres.

•   Other uses of waste tyres

  Other uses account for about 20,000 tonnes of waste arising. These include:

  • boat and dock fenders
  • under road surfaces
  • sports tracks
  • weights on silage sheeting on farms
  • crash barriers at motor racing circuits
  • children's play surfaces and furniture
  • protection for young plants and trees
  • compost heap containers
  • roof tiles
  • noise control products
  • structural support for earth walls
  • motorway embankments
  • artificial reefs and coastal defences

  Around 10,000 tonnes of tyres are exported to other countries for use as part-worns or in overseas retread operations.