Tyre power
Posted on May 3, 2009 by by racer
Ever wondered what happens to all those rubber tyres we so happily use? Well, as you can imagine, there is rather a large number of discarded tyres! So many that it is a real threat to our environment to continue burning them down. Bit a problem right? Well lucky for us, CSIRO have been working hard finding new and environmentally better ways of recycling our rubber.
CSIRO is working with Australian company VR TEK Operations to design and develop a new, improved method of recycling waste rubber which could be used to make new tyres, industrial insulation, road pavement, flooring or geotextiles for retaining walls and embankments.
For the complete article view the media release
8 Comments to “Tyre power”
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Interesting the CSIRO are trying to spin something that has already been around for a while.
In 2004 John Dobozy went on the ABC New Inventors with his recycling process: http://www.abc.net.au/tv/newinventors/txt/s1300273.htm
I remembered it well as he won the ABC Inventors top prize that year.
One of the products he could create with the recycled tyres was “Rubber Paving” which I thought was a rather cool concept at the time. Does anyone remember if the paving was water permeable? Or am I thinking of another paving product made of recycled materials that was also on the show?
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There’s a lot of different things to happen to tyres now – very few of them end up being burned as far as I’m aware.
First of all, before they get as far as landfill, tyre recyclers will take any with a good sidewall and retread them to be sold again. Once they get to the recycling plant, they have the cord and bead removed (the bit around the edge of the tyre, where it attaches to the wheel) and the rubber is broken down into small pieces and re-moulded into all sorts of household products (doormats are particularly popular). They are also recycled into the new ‘bendy’ reflector posts by the side of the road (less damage to a car, and if they’re hit they just bounce back up, awesome idea).
Any methods that can be employed to help this process are good, but the fact is that very few tyres end up being burned now. A very small number do end up in landfill, but many, many more are being recycled.
Now to extend the ideology to other consumer products …
L
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Jonathan, I don’t know the product in particular, but usually rubber is impermeable to water, yes …
L
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There was a paving product on the show made from recycled material that was definitely water PERMEABLE. The benefit being that instead of creating runoff when it rains, the water soaks through to the ground underneath.
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Yeah, but this is *rubber*.
L
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also, alot of the recycled tyres are shredded and used as mulch etc under childrens playgrounds…..i didnt know tyres were actually still been burnt!
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Cristian – good point. We used to have that stuff in our playground when I was in primary school!
L
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luxury. we had gravel and tan bark.
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