Michelin will open the first tire recycling plant
A first factory opened in Chile will allow Michelin to validate the industrial process of total recycling of used tires: 90% of the material is reused to remake tires, the 10%...
05/11/2022
A first factory opened in Chile will allow Michelin to validate the industrial process of total recycling of used tires: 90% of the material is reused to remake tires, the remaining 10% to supply the factory with energy.< /h2>
Michelin has an ambitious goal: the project, launched in 2018, will span 30 years and aims for the total recycling of all the brand's tires worldwide by 2048. We can read on the manufacturer's official website: "Currently, the global tire recovery rate is 70% and the global tire recycling rate is 50%. MICHELIN tires are made of 28% sustainable materials (26% bio-sourced materials, such as natural rubber, sunflower oil, limonene, etc., and 2% recycled materials, such as steel or recycled tire powder) For a sustainable future, Michelin is investing in high recycling technologies in order to be able to raise this ratio to 80% of sustainable materials."
The French giant has just taken a step forward with the construction of its very first tire recycling plant in the world, in partnership with the Swedish company Enviro. The plant will process 60% of civil engineering tires (works machinery, mining activities), which represents 30,000 tonnes of tires per year.
Thanks to Enviro's patented pyrolysis technology, almost all (90% of the material) of the tires will be reused to remanufacture rubber-based products, in particular through the recovery of carbon black or steel . The remaining 10% will be recovered and converted into energy to run the plant.
In this project, Michelin will mainly focus on "ancillary" activities: the construction of the plant, R&D for materials. The central recycling operation is the property of the Scandinavian industrialist.
A start before other factories on a global scale, which will be more than necessary: each year, around one billion used tires are collected worldwide.