Jun 2 2005
Since the mid-1990s, recycling and energy recovery have been commanding an ever-more decisive role in the European used tyre market, the latest BIR Tyres Round-Table was told by Chairman Barend Ten Bruggencate from The Netherlands.
Quoting figures from the European rubber industry association BLIC, he pointed out that 28% of the used tyres generated by the EU’s established 15 member states had gone for recycling in 2003 compared to a mere 6% in 1994. Over the same period, the share of used tyres going for energy recovery had leapt from 11% to 30%. Most of these gains had been at the expense of the landfilling option: only 18% of used tyres had been dumped in 2003 compared to 62% nine years earlier.
But while Mr Ten Bruggencate recognised the ‘enormous' progress achieved over the last decade, he stressed that certain EU-15 countries ‘still have problems’: notably, Greece, Ireland and Spain had used tyre recovery rates of only 28%, 25% and 40% respectively in 2003. In the same year, half of the EU’s 10 new member states were landfilling all of their used tyres.
According to the speaker, universities in Eastern Europe could be a significant source of assistance for Western European companies looking to invest in the east; interested parties should contact the European Commission’s DG Research for further information about the money available, he added.
Guest speaker at the Tyres Round-Table was Maarten van Randeraat of Granuband in The Netherlands, a company which manufactures a range of products from used tyres including Granufill infill material for synthetic sports pitches and Granuflex tiles for children’s playground areas, horse stable floors and other indoor/outdoor applications.
Formed in 1991, Granuband opened a high-tech, multi-million Euro factory in 2002 and currently recycles approximately 25,000 tonnes of used tyres per annum. Among his observations, the speaker noted that approval of artificial pitches by the European football body UEFA would provide a significant boost for companies such as his own.
Mr van Randeraat also discussed the workings of the Recybem foundation which administers the recycling system for all new tyres coming into the Dutch market. He explained that importers and producers were adding € 2 to the cost of each new tyre: € 1.25 went to certified collectors to cover, for example, the handling of tyres with no resale value; the remaining € 0.75 was kept by Recybem to cover its administration, management and audit costs. The guest speaker commented: ‘A good collection and recycling system needs good companies. Good companies are not afraid of certification and audits.’
Mr van Randeraat closed by expressing a desire to establish recycling plants in six countries over the next three years.
Source BIR - BIR is the international trade federation representing the world’s recycling industry, covering in particular ferrous and non-ferrous metals, paper and textiles.
http://www.bir.org