Contec opens rubber laboratory facility in Poland

Warsaw – Contec SA has expanded its operations with the opening of a rubber laboratory in Szczecin, Poland, where it currently operates a tire pyrolysis plant.

The “state-of-the-art” GumLab laboratory will help the Polish recycler advance rubber compounding and material testing, said a company release 28 April.

As well as quality control, the unit will focus on analysing the behaviour of recovered carbon black (rCB) compared to that of virgin material.

GumLab features test machines which will enable the development and testing of rubber compounds.

It also has “advanced mixing and processing systems”, as well as curing, rheological, physical, chemical, and mechanical testing capabilities.

These capabilities allow Contec to evaluate critical properties affected by the fillers, such as rCBs, according to the company.

“From the product development perspective, expanding our laboratory capabilities through rubber-testing equipment was clearly a natural step forward to help our clients,” said Klaudia Konska, R&D manager.

The company also intends to make GumLab available for commercial use, offering external partners access to its testing and development capabilities.

Contec processes end-of-life tires into recovered carbon black, tire pyrolysis oil and recovered steel – uniquely using molten salt as a safer, more efficient heat-transfer medium.

Last November, Contec announced the completion of its third and fourth pyrolysis lines at Szczecin, under an investment plan “to triple its production capacity over the coming year.”

As announced in October 2023, on completion of the project the plant would have a nominal capacity to process 33,000 tons of ELTs per year.  (ERJ report)