Green light for Scotland’s ‘carbon negative’ tyre recycling hub

The Scottish government has given SSH Recycling the go-ahead for a tyre recycling plant at Linwood, west of Glasgow.

SSH Recycling says the new facility will be able to handle 100 000 tonnes of end-of-life tyres per year. This represents over one million commercial vehicle tyres and nearly four million passenger vehicle tyres. It adds this will help prevent around 2.7 tonnes of CO2 emissions for every tonne of waste tyre processed.  

Substitute

Construction on the site is scheduled to start in 2025 and operations will kick off in 2027. It will create up to 80 jobs. The plant will be designed to recycle or repurpose every component part of used tyres. 

According to SSH Recycling, recycled materials from the facility will be used as a substitute for virgin rubber in tyre manufacturing. Other applications include industrial products and construction. 

It argues that more recycling capacity is needed to tackle the increasing volume of tyre waste across the country. Scotland generates an estimated 4.2 million tonnes of used tyres every year.

Government officials welcome this ‘carbon negative’ facility. They hope the innovative project will bring over £120 million (EUR 146 million) of investment to the west of Scotland.