WATER: Water Accelerated Technology for En-Tyre Recycling

Over 55 million tyres (over 500,000 tonnes) are disposed of annually in the UK and enter the waste stream. Only 32% of End-of-Life (EoL) tyres are currently turned into crumb or powder, with 25% being burnt to produce energy. The current mechanical grinding processes used cannot separate the rubber from steel and fabric leading to lower grade crumb not suitable for tyre manufacture and the rubber can only be used in lower value applications. This project, "WATER" focusses on a novel recyling technology, currently at a lab scale, to use Ultra High Pressure Water to break down and separate tyre materials into 3 distinct resources - high grade rubber crumb, steel and fabric. It seeks to develop it into a cost-effective production ready process and put the rubber crumb back into the top of the value stream in the manufacture of new tyres. Rubber represents over 30% of the cost of a tyre, putting the rubber back into the supply chain will greatly reduce material costs, generate revenue for tyre recyclers and create a closed-loop.