New WRAP (Waste & Resources Action Programme) funded research has demonstrated that crumb rubber from waste tyres can be successfully incorporated into retread compounds for road truck and earthmover tyres at much higher inclusion rates than was previously understood to be viable.

The research indicated that with crumb rubber incorporated at levels of up to 40%, the tyres suffered no reduction in durability or performance when compared to the industry standard. In some cases the new compounds even showed an improvement in performance when compared to the control materials – they cured 20% quicker and proved more durable.
 
Re-treading is considered to be one of the more preferable and effective methods of re-using worn tyres as the process effectively doubles the life of a tyre; reducing the numbers of new tyres needed and minimising waste. It is hoped these findings will encourage growth of the tyre reprocessing market, positively impacting on the 48 million waste tyres generated in the UK each year.
 
Steve Waite, Project Manager for Tyres at WRAP, said: “The UK produces around 130,000 waste tyres every day so testing and developing new outlets for tyre-derived rubber material is a priority for the industry. This study provides reassurance for users that high percentages of rubber crumb can successfully be incorporated into retread compounds for truck and earthmover tyres without compromising the tyres’ performance. It is especially encouraging that some of the new compounds produced during this trial have been shown to offer benefits over the original compound.”
 

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EnviroFutures Ltd, Sheffield Technology Park, 60 Shirland Lane, Sheffield
South Yorkshire, S9 3SP; Tel: 0114 2213516 Email: info@envirofutures.com
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