Tyrecycle will redirect up to 3,200 metric tons of end-of-life OTR tires annually from on-site disposal, landfill or overseas exports, creating crumbed product for use in road construction and various rubber-based products.

Dec. 6, 2021, Tyrecycle Australia, Lonsdale, opened its new tire recycling facility featuring Eldan machinery at Erskine Park, New South Wales, Australia.

Tyrecycle secured AU$2.9 million ($2.2 million) in funding for an AU$5.8 million ($4.4 million) expansion project at Erskine Park. This facility will upgrade from producing 6-inch to 1.5-inch tire derived fuel, provide steel cleaning facilities and introduce OTR processing and debeading.

Jim Fairweather, the CEO of Tyrecycle, says the plant will be able to sustainably process the tens of thousands of tons of tires that were previously being sent offshore with poor environmental outcomes.

“It reflects a significant step forward in Australia responsibly dealing with its own tire waste, driving strong environmental and economic outcomes,” Fairweather says. “It’s so important that we partner with people like Eldan, who would be regarded as the best original equipment manufacturer for tire recycling in the world. Their machines are made to an incredibly high, exacting standard. They are a fabulous partner to work with in terms of working through plant design. Because of their experience, they know what works and what doesn’t work for particular feedstock.

“Because tires are so hard-wearing on equipment, this is one market where you cannot go and buy cheap equipment. If you do, you’re destined for failure. This is why we use Eldan,” he says.

In addition to creating new products and accessing more varied markets, Tyrecycle will be able to redirect up to 3,200 metric tons of end-of-life OTR tires annually from on-site disposal, landfill or overseas exports, creating crumbed product for use in road construction and various manufactured rubber-based products.

“We see huge growth potential in the use of rubber crumb in road construction, but it needs to be supported by bold procurement commitments from all levels of government,” Fairweather says. “Trials have already demonstrated improved grip and braking distances, reduced noise levels and reduced whole-of-life costs.”

The facility’s opening was witnessed by special guests Sussan Ley, minister for the environment; Trevor Evans, assistant minister; and Rayne de Gruchy, New South Wales’ EPA chair. Eldans’s own Area Sales Manager for USA and Australia Carsten Nielsen also witnessed the ceremony.

Read how Pyrum Innovations AG has partnered with Eldan Recycling to triple tire shredding capacity and improve quality.

Denmark-based Eldan Recycling A/S, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of end-of-life tire (ELT) recycling equipment, has expanded its collaboration with the German pioneer in sustainable ELT recycling and developer of patented pyrolysis technology, Pyrum Innovations AG. This collaboration is embodied by the formation of a sales corporation, where both companies will market each of their products for complete recycling solutions.

“We use the newest developed designs in production of high-quality steel- and textile-free, uniform-sized rubber granulate,” says Bjørn Laursen, Eldan product manager for tire recycling. “This quality rubber granulate will ensure optimal performance of the Pyrum pyrolysis plants with special attention to low power consumption and automation.”

In addition, Pyrum has ordered a new, more powerful shredder from Eldan Recycling, which is expected to be delivered to the plant in Dillingen, Germany, by the end of 2022. Before Pyrum recycles the ELT using its patented pyrolysis technology, the ELT must be shredded. During the shredding process, the rubber components of the tires are crushed, and steel wire and textile fibers are separated. With the help of the Eldan shredder, Pyrum can triple of the number of ELTs it processes to up to 7,000 per day. At the same time, the machine enables a significantly better quality of separated steel, which can sell for a higher price.

"We are very pleased about the agreement with Eldan,” Pascal Klein, CEO of Pyrum Innovations AG, says. “In addition to the significant increase in our shredding capacities, which is also a prerequisite for the commissioning of our two new pyrolysis reactors, we will be able to supply a significantly better steel quality with a much higher purity in the future. This means that our steel wire will also count as raw material in the future and can be directly processed into new steel.

“Furthermore, the sales cooperation shows that Eldan is convinced of our pyrolysis technology and values it as a sales advantage, a further confirmation of our process," he continues.

“Eldan are really excited about the corporation with Pyrum,” Laursen says. “Our fully automated tire recycling plant will produce the optimal input for the Pyrum pyrolysis plant. This will be a state-of-the-art system that will combine the best of two worlds. We believe the Dillingen plant will be a showoff for more plants to come.”

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Colorado Industrial Recycling is combining old-school values with new technology to continue a family tradition.

The recycling industry is in Colorado Industrial Recycling owners Dave and Mike Koscove’s DNA. A quick look around the Colorado Springs, Colorado, facility, and it clearly is more than just a job for the fourth-generation recyclers.

“Our family has been recycling for over 100 years,” Dave says. “It started similarly to what we recycle today, including metal, rubber and maybe some glass.”

The company’s website states that the 1911 Colorado Springs’ phonebook lists Isaac Koscove, Dave and Mike’s great grandfather, as a “junk dealer.” Today, Colorado Industrial Recycling is melding old-school values with cutting-edge technology. A recently installed wire processing plant, engineered by Eldan Recycling, is set to open new opportunities for the company.

“Historically, we’ve always served a localized market,” says Andy O’Riley, Colorado Industrial Recycling’s relationship manager. “Most of our marketing has been word-of-mouth, and it’s very much a business built through relationships within our community. This will give us the opportunity to branch out beyond our local network and elevates us in terms of what we are capable of doing. Ultimately, it gives us a platform to display to this wider audience all that we do.”

In 2010, the Koscoves decided to find ways to distinguish the company from others and began looking at wire processing facilities. They went with Eldan Recycling after seeing its equipment in operation at other sites.

“It’s Eldan designed from the ground up,” Dave says of the Colorado wire processing plant. “They saw what we needed and designed it. The technology they provide, as well as key environmental aspects—they knock it out of the park. What makes the Eldan plant special is the area of efficiency. The plant produces no wastewater, almost no air pollution and requires minimal electricity. If the product level increases, we have the ability to expand the chopping line. We’ve set ourselves up for expansion as we go.”

It took 11 overseas containers to get the plant equipment to Colorado, where it was assembled over several months. The plant processes three types of materials, including No. 1 copper, which runs at a rate of from about 40 kilograms to 80 kilograms perminute; No. 2 copper, which starts at 4.5 kilograms and goes as high as 22 kilograms per minute; and aluminum, which runs from 36 kilograms to 68 kilograms a minute. A bag house at the back of the plant takes out most of the particulates. Contamination produced often is measured in fractions of a percent.

Dave says the plant is “really impressive and a great way to introduce recycling to uninitiated audiences.” Staff at the recycling plant are “getting a feel” for how the system works.

“Knowing how different materials respond and how the machine is operating and running comes with time,” Dave says. “You have to listen and feel.”

Andy says the process has been a learning curve for Colorado Industrial Recycling and Eldan.

“Obviously, wire is produced differently in Denmark, where Eldan is based,” Andy says. “The products being recycled in the United States are unique, and this is a relatively new market for Eldan. They see us as a way of fine-tuning their technology specifically for a U.S. market.”

He adds the new plant is a “game-changer” for the company on several levels.

“Previously, we fulfilled only the middle stages of recycling,” Andy says. “We were collecting but not changing the composition of the material. We had to outsource that final stage of processing. Sometimes that has required us to export the material to foreign processors. When you’re sending things overseas, you don’t always know what the environmental consequences are. Being able to keep all stages of the recycling process localized reduces the carbon impact and allows us to ensure everything is done with integrity. Processing the material in-house also has an economic benefit.”

Colorado Industrial Recycling says it sees itself as a partner with the community and always has had a mindset that it should give back.

Part of the value policy of the company is to create job opportunities for people with barriers to employment. It partners with several social service agencies and nonprofits to employ people with disabilities, refugees and people transitioning out of homelessness. Andy says adding the processing component to the business gives more job opportunities to help people build a skillset.

“The Eldan plant has given us a new opportunity for a specific type of work for a part of the community that is not always given an opportunity,” Andy says. “We’ve always been wired to look for those opportunities.”

The move comes as the company prepares to begin commercial operations in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

Sortera Alloys, headquartered in Fort Wayne, Indiana, has announced the appointment of Michael Siemer as chief executive officer. He replaces company founder Nalin Kumar, Ph.D., who assumes the new role of chief technology officer.

Prior to joining Sortera, Siemer served as president of OSIsoft, the data management platform company now part of Aveva, where he oversaw the strategic vision and future of OSIsoft, created and led the new executive committee and supported the company's global revenue growth and subscription transition. He also previously served as vice president, operations technology, at Devon Energy, in addition to having roles with Sandridge Energy and 3M. 

Siemer holds a BS in electrical engineering from Syracuse University, an MS in electrical engineering from Colorado State University and an MBA from Oklahoma Christian University.

“I couldn’t be more pleased to be named CEO of such a great company as it moves from pilot to commercial operations,” Siemer says. “At Sortera, we are delivering high-quality materials without the tremendous impact that comes with virgin feedstocks. I am excited to lead this experienced team forward, which will have a major impact on the circularity of heavy industry.”

Kumar and Manuel Garcia founded Sortera in 2020. The company says it is using its artificial intelligence (AI) and engineering expertise to deliver high-throughput, high-purity sorting processes that also keep costs down.

In late 2021, Sortera announced it had received $10 million in new funding led by Breakthrough Energy Ventures, Kirkland, Washington. The investment builds on previous funding from Chrysalix and the Department of Energy Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) and will help Sorter scale operations and grow its team, with initial efforts targeted at high-quality industrial metal recycling from automobiles.

“As an early lead investor, Breakthrough is thrilled with the trajectory and great progress made by Sortera Alloys over the past 11 months,” Carmichael Roberts of Breakthrough Energy Ventures, says. “Nalin, Manny, Ben [Pope, vice president of commercialization] and the entire team have had unprecedented success in a short period of time. Now with a leader like Michael coming on board, the transition from pilot stage to commercial operations will be all-the-more swift.”

Sortera Alloys says it uses advanced AI-powered imaging, data analytics and sensors to sort aluminum alloy feedstock. The company operates from a 10-acre facility in Fort Wayne, and its first mass-production plant is under development and will be operational by summer 2022, Sortera says. It has been shipping trial truckloads of aluminum feedstock, including cast, sheet and extrusions, for the past few months from its pilot scale plant. 

Sortera, a spin-out from the Department of Energy’s ARPA-E METALS Program, says it has more than 25 issued and pending patents.

“We are very proud of what we have accomplished at Sortera to bring circularity to metals markets,” Kumar says. “With Michael joining as CEO, I am greatly looking forward to his taking the company to the next level.”

Sortera says its AI-powered sorters can upgrade feedstock streams and remove unwanted contaminants. The upgraded streams can then be used to make new products in markets ranging from automotive cast and flat-roll products, building and construction, aerospace and consumer packaging. 

Vipa is a global trader of recovered fiber and other recyclables.

Myles Cohen has been named to the board of Vipa USA Inc., according to an announcement by Marc Ehrlich, CEO of Lausanne, Switzerland-based trading company Vipa Group and chairman of Retripa, a Swiss company that processes recyclables.

Vipa USA has had trading offices in California since 2019.

“Myles has the knowledge and experience that Vipa needs to scale up our recycling trading in North America,” Ehrlich says. “Over much of the past two decades, Myles has been one of the foremost leaders and intimately involved in virtually all aspects of the recycling industry. In addition to his role as a senior executive in two major recycling companies, he also served in leadership roles within the Institute of Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI), serving three terms on the board of directors, two years on the Executive Committee and two years each as president of ISRI’s paper recycling chapter and a chairman of ISRI’ paper division.”

Cohen currently serves as the principal of Circular Ventures LLC, an advisory firm that provides board representation to trade associations and public and private entities that are involved in recycling, packaging and the circular economy. He also serves on the advisory board of The Pack Green Coalition, is the North American consultant to Norexeco for pulp financial hedging, is the exclusive agent for a patented packaging innovation known as Recyclestrip and consults to several other public and private entities.

“It’s been a privilege and honor for me to serve in executive leadership roles at two great companies steeped in a great heritage of recycling and sustainability, Sonoco and Pratt Industries, in which I had the opportunity to lead an effort to build something from a vision into reality,” Cohen says. “With Vipa, I have the opportunity to assist them in doing the same thing.”  

Cohen adds that North America is the “next frontier” for Vipa, which is a global leader in trading recycled materials globally. “Over the past half-century, the Ehrlich family and their employees have created a culture that is trusted throughout the world, and we intend to prove that to the North American market as well, for the trading of recovered fiber, as well as scrap metal and plastic.”

Vipa Group, with offices throughout Europe and the United States, is the leading exporter of recovered paper out of Europe. The company serves a variety of markets, including China, Southeast Asia, India, Europe and the South America. Vipa buys and sells millions of tons of recovered materials in more than 100 countries globally from its 13 offices around the world, including in North America.  

When Recycling Today profiled Vipa Group in 2020, Erlich said, “Being leaders in the European market with 25 percent market share, we strongly believe we also can be a link between the North American continent and Asia.”

He added, “The United States is exporting double the quantity of recovered paper compared to Europe, so our potential for growth is enormous.”