Recycled rubber? A challenge for research at an international level with ever more demanding projects. The tire manufacturers present on the European market strive to stay within the indications of the strategy about recovery. End-of-life automobile tires are an established business. In Europe, the Company Ecopneus was born as a non-profit to track, collect and treat end-of-life tyres. The Italian Pirelli is one of the founding members and the recovered tires end up in play areas for children, artificial turf fields, traffic reservations. The recycling system, in order not to see tires abandoned in the most unthinkable places, feeds itself and experiments with new technological solutions. Originally, tires are the result of a mixture of several substances: natural rubber, petroleum, sulphur, carbon black, silica, oils. They are components that are very harmful to the environment and must therefore be recovered. It is the good rule to pass from waste to resource. About recycling all kinds of waste Italy is well positioned. And it will do even better when they build new plants.
Recycled rubber is another Enea success story
The latest important recycling innovation in the sector comes from a collaboration between Enea and the University of Brescia. Researchers in the modern laboratory in Brescia have obtained a recycled rubber suitable for industrial production or vibration dampers. A new material, a synthesis between two dissimilar sectors: steel and rubber. Both materials are at the center of European circular economy programs, for which the Italian intuition is arousing great interest. But what happened in the laboratory that can be exploited on an industrial scale ? Cold working, without the addition of additives, produced 1 millimeter thick rubber sheets. The beginning is promising for the Italian economy for large and small companies. "With this work we are laying the foundations for realizing an action of industrial symbiosis between two sectors in a region like Lombardy" he explains Mark La Monica, economist of the ENEA Laboratory. In fact, the major producers of electric furnace steel and, consequently, large quantities of slag to be exploited are located in Lombardy. An analysis of the production sectors was carried out in the area to understand the symbiotic flows between companies in different sectors. The passage into production will allow the chemical bond with the sulfur present in the rubber at the end of its life to be separated. Steel slags with toxic elements such as chromium, molybdenum and vanadium will be greatly reduced.
The recovery of rubber benefits the environment
“To evaluate the properties of this new material, we combined the basic ingredient, tire powder, with quantities of steel slag and we found a reduction in the coefficient of friction and an increase in stiffness” he adds Anna Gobetti, post-doc fellow at the University of Brescia. The reuse of slag - heavy metals - is certainly an operation that benefits the environment and the quality of the territory. On the other hand indeed Brescia (call to vote tomorrow May 14) according to theEuropean Environment Agency it has a very high average of fine particles and is in 358th place out of 375 cities examined. The end of life of tires and black slag from steelworks will fuel sustainable economy circuits in an area that also has high employment. After all, the researchers have put together two production chains to have an advanced product with a low level of harmfulness. For steel, Italy is the leading country in Europe with 20,4 million tons produced. Black waste is about 10-15% of the total production. As for tyres, about 435 thousand tons of tires, inform theAeneas. Only 20%, however, is regenerated for new uses in the mobility sector. 350 thousand tons are used for other uses such as energy recovery in cement factories and energy production. Unfortunately, 25% of car tires are dispersed into the environment, sometimes burned in the open air in uncontrolled places, becoming a danger to the environment. The responsibility of individual citizens for correct disposal must also be recalled. Does anyone think they are burning money?
