Another tire recycler enters the fray

Today in tire recycling news: a company called Plateau Mineral Development, Inc. announced that it, in conjunction with Environmental Solutions, has commenced the permitting process for the Tire Converter, which is a process designed to recover carbon black, oil, gas, and “petroleum solvents” from recycled tires.

Once the permitting process is complete, early fabrication of the device will begin. Permitting and early fabrication should allow Plateau and EnSol’s engineers to resolve any fabrication issues that could make building the Converter take longer than needed. Fabrication issues need to be fixed in order to avoid unforeseen delays that would include follow-on production problems.

According to the company’s press release, one of the markets the company plans to pursue for its recycled carbon black is batteries. According to Notch Consulting estimates, battery markets account for less than 0.1% of furnace black demand, and those grades are conductive blacks. There may be some confusion with acetylene black, which is used in batteries but would not be recovered from tires.