Michelin will be developing its tyre recycling plant in Chile, with it able to recycle 30,000 tonnes of earthmover tyres a year

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Michelin will begin work on the tyre recycling plant in 2021, with production scheduled to get underway in 2023 (Credit: Pixabay)

Michelin has announced it has begun construction on its first tyre recycling plant.

In order to do this, the French tyre giant is collaborating with Enviro – a Swedish company that has developed a technology to recover carbon black, oil, steel and gas from end-of-life tyres.

Based in the Antofagasta region of Chile, the plant will be able to recycle 30,000 tonnes of earthmover tyres a year – or nearly 60% of such tyres scrapped every year nationwide.

Work will begin in 2021, with production scheduled to get underway in 2023 – with more than $30m being invested in building the firm’s first new-generation end-of-life tyre processing plant.

Michelin’s vice president of marketing and development, strategy and new business for the high-tech materials line Sander Vermeulen said: “Thanks to this joint venture with Enviro, we are very proud to announce the construction of the Michelin’s first recycling plant.

“This is a major milestone that will enable us to offer customers a new-generation recycling solution while developing new business for the Group. We are currently in talks with several Chilean mining customers to sign long-term contracts.

“By scaling up Enviro’s technology, we are offering them a solution that will support their environmental objectives and enables the development of a circular economy.”

 

Michelin developing a comprehensive recycling solution that recovers everything in a tyre for reuse

The new-generation recycling plant will support the circular economy by collecting scrap tyres directly from customer premises, then transported to the plant to be cut up and recycled.

Enviro’s technology will enable everything in an end-of-life tyre to be recovered for reuse.

Current plans call for 90% of the recovered materials to be reused in a variety of rubber-based products, such as tyres, conveyor belts and anti-vibration products.

The remaining 10% will be reused directly by the plant to generate its own-use heat and power.

This initial recycling plant will enable Michelin to offer a comprehensive recycling solution, from collecting end-of-life tyres to reusing the recovered raw materials in the manufacture of new products.