Periodically, we are reminded of the problem of disposing of old vehicle tyres. There\’s been a number of suggestions as to what we should do, but there is concern that the cure may be worse than the disease with a lot of side effects: burning tyres, for example, just adds to air pollution. Now, an Australian start up Green Distillation Technologies says it has a solution that is both effective and profitable. Their chief operating officer is Trevor Bailey.
In our discussion Trevor notes:
- They have a demonstration plant up and running
- It works on heating the tyres in a closed environment without air so that there are molecular changes without causing smoke and other pollutants.
- He can run the power for his plant by using just 3% of the oil they produce in the recycling process.
- It is producing quality by products such as oil and steel
- There is a large amount of interest from overseas
- They want to start a larger commercial size factory in Australia but we are slower to jump on board new technology as opposed to the US
- Other recycling systems have disadvantages including taking all or more of the charge that is taxed on each new tyre to cover recycling.