Rubber is a polymer of butadiene and one of the most significant chemical components. It is utilised extensively in a variety of fields in the current, technologically advanced world. Rubber is utilised specifically in the tyre industry, which produces tyres for various types of automobiles. Rubber is needed as a raw material for rubber products. Either natural rubber, which is frequently grown on sizable plantations and comes with all the issues a monoculture brings, or synthetic rubber, which is made using crude oil. Both procedures consume a lot of resources. Mountains of discarded vehicle tyres suddenly appear on the landscape at the end of the chain. These days, used tyre and rubber recycling plants take on these waste sites.
Even after a lengthy time of treatment at a landfill, the rubber from used tyres does not readily biodegrade. Because the waste tyre rubber contains harmful and soluble components, landfilling of used tyres results in soil and water pollution. Tyre stockpiles serve as a breeding ground for a variety of pests, and burning tyres poses major fire risks. Determining a substitute for consumption or disposal of used rubber tyres is thus important. Applications relating to the construction industry hold a lot of promise for used tyre rubber. This garbage usage would not only be cost-effective but might also contribute to environmental protection.
Rubber is the name given to any substance produced by grinding up used tyres or other rubber into uniform granules and then removing any inherent reinforcing fibre and steel as well as any other inert pollutants like dust, glass, or rock.
Tire buffings, a result of tyre retreading, and scrap tyre rubber are used as the main raw materials in the production of crumb rubber. Three types of tyres make up scrap tyre rubber: passenger car tyres, which account for about 84 percent of units or roughly 65 percent of the total weight of scrap tyres; trucks, which make up 15% of units or 20% of the total weight of scrap tyres; and off-road tyres, which make up 1% of units or 15% of the total weight of scrap tyres. The construction, strength, and weight of the tyre all have an impact on the final product yields for each of these tyre types. One passenger tyre can produce 10 to 12 pounds of crumb rubber on average.
Uses and Application
Rubber may also be utilised in oil refineries, automobile industries, brake pad factories, paving materials for roads, and stadium flooring.
Rubber is occasionally used as fuel in cement factories, where one tonne of tyres is equivalent to 700 kg of standard fuel, or four tyres are equivalent to one barrel of fuel.
Rubber has many applications like: Shoes, tyres, rubber connectors, oil seals, hoses, and similar products are manufactured at factories.
Rubber tiles, plastic track, grass sand, skin fragments, cottonseed meal, golf courses, aircraft pitch, basketball courts, and leisure fields; 10-20 mesh (0.85-2 mm): safety mats, gym mats, and other stadium floor mats.
30 mesh (0.6 mm): plastic insulation material, waterproofing roll for walls and roofs, shock-proofing material, washers, recycled rubber, modified asphalt, fender, multipurpose mats, and stable mats.
Asphalt additives, reclaimed rubber, waterproof rolls, tyre additives, sleepers, road humps, seals, buffers, pearl pads, rubber pistons, brake linings, and other rubber items are available in 80 mesh (0.18 mm) size.
Products made of rubber using simple compression moulding techniques include rubber pavement blocks, cattle mats, railroad crossings, detachable speed bumps, and gymnasium mats.
Devulcanization is the technique of restoring recycled rubber without sacrificing its quality, aesthetic, or performance properties by dissolving the sulphur bonds that make up its molecular structure. There are numerous methods for doing this, including mechanical, thermal, ultrasonic, and even employing microbes.
Other Unrelated Uses – Numerous products, including silo covers, door mats made of tyre strips, handicrafts, shoe bottoms, and playground swings, are the outcome of creative thinking. There are trash cans made from recycled tyres all around Thailand.
Market Outlook:
India's rubber sector is expanding quickly. India's demand for rubber granules has surged from 5% to 8%. The product's scope is reasonable. With over 300 million discarded tyres produced year, the USA is thought to be the top producer. But as more new cars are sold, China and India are increasingly adding to the volume of trash tyres. More than a billion tyres worldwide end up in landfills every year. On a global scale, an estimated 15 million tonnes of discarded tyres are produced each year. Such massive amounts of rubbish are piled up and dumped in landfills, posing environmental and health dangers.
By recovering resources, appropriate recycling of used tyres helps to mitigate these issues while also providing the populace with employment and economic options.
Over 1.6 billion new tyres are produced each year, along with about 1 billion discarded tyres. Only 100 million tyres were processed annually in the recycling sector, nevertheless. The tire's intricate design and several intricate processes render it practically indestructible and make tyre recycling challenging. However, top tyre recyclers are investing a lot of money in cutting-edge machinery and technology that may assist recycle tyres for a variety of uses while also protecting the environment.
According to the most recent research, between the upcoming assessment periods of 2021–2031, the demand for Rubber granules is expected to increase with a strong growth rate of roughly 4.0 percent to 6.0 percent. The market is anticipated to grow at a healthy rate over the coming years due to rising demand for a variety of applications, including playground surfaces, drain construction, road construction, the automobile sector, and others.
Industry Major Market Players:
· Liberty Tire Services LLC
· Lakin General
· Entech Inc.
· Emanuel Tire Co.
· Tire Disposal & Recycling Inc.
· Mac’s Tire Recyclers
· Golden By-Products Inc
· Champlin Tire Recycling
· L&S Tire Co.
· Global Rubber LLC
· Manhantango Enterprises Inc.
· RB Rubber Products
· BAS Recycling Inc.
· Rumpke Consolidated Cos. Inc
· Global Tire Recycling of Sumter County Inc
· reRubber LLC
· Golden By-Products Inc.
· Colt Inc. Scrap Tire Centers
