New role for tyre rubber

United States | An engineered rubber powder called PolyDyne can replace a significant proportion of the oil needed for the manufacture of many synthetic rubber and other petrochemical products, according to industrial polymer manufacturer Lehigh Technologies, Inc. of Naples, Florida, USA.
The company manufactures PolyDyne by grinding rubber from used tyres into an ultra-fine powder. ’Seeing the vast amounts of waste in tyre junkyards across the USA inspired us to seek a solution for turning scrap tyres into a resource that can be recycled and manufactured into a new, useful material,’ says Lehigh’€™s Chief Operating Officer Anthony Cialone. His company suggests that anything from car parts to plastic refuse cans, as well as high-tech spray coatings and shoe soles, can be created using substantial loadings of engineered rubber powder derived from used tyres, thereby reducing the dependency on petroleum and saving half a billion gallons of oil each year.
Scrap tyres coarsely ground into crumb rubber have been used in asphalt and limited rubber products for years. However, Lehigh Technologies claims to be achieving a first in utilising specialist equipment to turn scrap tyre material into ultra-fine engineered rubber powders.