720255Continuous Processing of Rubber (CPR)ClosedGRD Development of PrototypeInnovate UKThe continuous processing of previously crosslinked polymers to return them to a reusable state. The crosslinking process is regarded as being irreversible. Based on a combination of novel processing technologies, a prototype processing line is to be developed and tested on a range of crosslinked rubber materials. There is a significantly high economic and environmental cost to the traditional approach to dealing with both post-industrial and post-consumer rubber waste. Addressing the former, the rubber industry discards, on average, more than 10% of the materials it processes, usually as a result of manufacturing processes such as injection moulding and stamping. With the increasing costs of raw materials, process energy and environmental impact, the reuse of these materials is highly desirable. Ideally all material wastage would be returned to the primary material stream, as achieved in the glass, metal and plastics industries. Post-consumer rubber is often linked to the problem of vehicle tyres. Although significant progress has been made in developing technologies and processes to exploit these materials, their economics remain marginal, often requiring subsidies to break even. As contamination and material aging reduce the technical performance of such materials, they are commonly restricted to low grade applications. Following a series of proof-of-principle and proof-of-concept trials in which a combination of technologies have been applied to a range of cured rubber materials, a prototype-scale line is required to test post-industrial materials at rates of up to 250 kg/hr to prove the principle on manufacturers’ production lines, ideally without the need for modification of their standard processes. Successful processing at this scale would lead to the development of 1 to 10 tonne/hour production lines capable of meeting the economic and volume requirements of both postconsumer and post-industrial material streams.