MOL building new rubber-bitumen plant in Hungary

Budapest – Hungarian energy and chemicals company MOL is investing HUF3 billion (€9.2 million) in the construction of a new rubber-bitumen plant in Zalaegerszeg, western Hungary.

Scheduled for operation next year, the plant can process 3,000 kilotonnes per annum (ktpa) of crumb rubber to produce of modified 20ktpa of bitumen, MOL said 2 May.

The plant, said MOL, will support the construction of 200km/year of road and process around 500,000 end-of-life tires, or 8-10% of arisings in Hungary’s.

The new plant is in line with MOL’s 2030 strategy to focus on the production of environmentally friendly, small-scale, innovative goods.

The Hungarian company already operates a 5ktpa rubber bitumen plant in its Zala refinery in Zalaegerszeg.

Since start-up in 2012, this unit has contributed to the building or renovation of 60km of road in Hungary, using rubber sourced from about 150,000 scrap tires.

According to MOL, roads made with bitumen rubber have approximately 1.5 times longer lifecycle than conventional roads.

With “excellent” fatigue properties, the material offers higher load capacity and lower tear tendency.

Additionally, roads built with the material generate significantly less traffic noise.