Factory plan to draw new life from old tyres

Energy and raw materials from tonnes of old tyres are set to be recovered under plans for a reprocessing plant.

Tyre producer Michelin is working with Murfitts Industries on the £14m pyrolysis project, which if approved could be fully operational at Michelin's truck tyre retreading site in Stoke-on-Trent by next year.

Tyre pyrolysis uses extreme heat in an oxygen-depleted environment to produce carbon black, steel and oil, which can then be reused.

Michelin said up to 12,500 tonnes of old tyres a year could go through the process, and steam generated from it would also be used by the factory to cure new tyres.

Christina Peloquin, site director at Michelin UK, described it as a "really exciting project" which would cut the firm's environmental impact, while also lowering energy costs to help it stay competitive.

The founder of Suffolk-based Murfitts Industries, Mark Murfitt, said he believed the new plant could be a "breakthrough in the life cycle of a tyre".

That is because it "moves tyre recycling on from recovering energy and material for other uses to being able to feed it directly back into factories for new tyre production," he stated.

The pyrolysis plant is proposed to go on a former heat and power generation site at Michelin's Campbell Road factory.

If the planning application is approved, it could create up to 18 full-time jobs, said Murfitts Industries.

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