Dutch reclaim company expands

Maastricht, The Netherlands – Rubber reclaim producer Rubber Resources BV, based in Maastricht, has expanded its production facilities and its grades offering, the Dutch company has announced.

The move followed a government area re-structuring, which required the company to relocate to another site in the same city.

“We have used this [relocation] to expand our capacity and to introduce new technologies and grades,” explained Marc Beeldsnijder, head of marketing & sales at the company.

Rubber Resources manufactures and supplies NR and butyl rubber reclaim, on a large industrial scale. The current annual capacity of 25.000 Mt is mainly delivered to the top 10 tire manufacturers.

The new facility is double the size of the old plant and will have new technology for reclaim grades, said the company in a September press release.

In order to meet the demands for green products, the company said, it is now producing a new reclaim grade out of truck tire Ecorr RTT with the same mechanical properties and surface smoothness as reclaim natural rubber Ecorr RNR.

The Ecorr RNR grades, mainly devulcanised out of truck tread peelings, are produced from retreading rubber waste.

However, said the release, “in times of less retreading there is less rubber waste, peelings and buffings available.”

New alternative Ecorr RTT has comparable results with RNR compounds in carcass compound tests, according to Rubber Resources.

“On top of this result; the RTT grade contains nearly 10 percent more polymer,” added the company.

Rubber Resources is a 55-year-old company, and a spin-off from tire producer Vredestein Apollo.