Australian tire recycler to double capacity 

Warren, New South Wales – Australian tire recycler Green Distillation Technologies (GDT) is expanding capacity at its flagship waste tire recycling plant in Warren with the addition of a second processing module.

The project, set for completion in April 2021, will double the recycling capacity of the plant which currently stands at 9.7 tonnes per day of end of life tires (ELTs), the company said in a statement to ERJ 9 Nov.

Today, the facility has one ELT reprocessing module, but the site has the capacity to accommodate up to six fully operational modules, according to GDT. 

“As further investment funds become available the plant will be extended further up to the six modules to handle the full design capacity of 19,300 tonnes,” said the recycler, which has developed an 'emission-free' technology to recover high value oil, carbon and steel from waste tires. 

The technology yields 3.6 litres of oil, 4.7kg of carbon, 2kg of steel from a typical 10kg car tire. A 70kg truck tire will provide 25 litres of oil, 33 kg of carbon, 14 kg of steel, according to the company. 

Currently funded by “high net worth individuals, and sophisticated investors,” GDT said it has made an application for an Australian government grant, under a scheme to support recycling ventures. 

Australia is set to place a ban on the export of whole waste tires at the end of 2021 and GDT argues that it qualifies for the grant to partially cover the a “massive gap” in the country’s tire recycling capacity.  

“The extent of the looming future world end-of-life disposal problem is not generally realised with a projected 2.7 billion expected to be generated in 2025,” said chief operating officer Trevor Bayley.

To meet the expected demand, GDT is currently working to bring its first two Australian processing facilities in Warren and Toowoomba in Southern Queensland into full production.

The company also intends to build five other plants in Gladstone, Wagga, Geelong, Elizabeth and Collie Western Australia.