R From used tyres to rubber powder - MeWa Recycling Maschinen ...

NEWS
December 2007
From Used Tyres to
Rubber Powder
New recycling process produces
raw material to substitute rubber
>>> Page 2
Newsletter for customers and staff
The topics:
The latest news:
Hungary leads the way
in tyre recycling
>>> Page 3
Market & trends:
Secondary raw material
in three stages
>>> Page 4
Zillertal opts for biogas
>>> Page 7

Latest news
From used tyres to rubber powder
New process provides high-quality secondary raw material as a natural rubber
substitute
Monoculture: Rubber plantation in Asia.
Rubber products require rubber as
a raw material. Either natural rubber,
which is often cultivated on
large plantations – with all the problems
associated with a monoculture. Or alternatively
synthetic rubber, which is produced
using crude oil. Both processes use
a high amount of resources. At the end
of the chain, mountains of used car tyres
crop up on the landscape.
These waste sites are taken on by used
tyre and rubber recycling plants nowadays.
Certain types of plant produce a very fine
rubber granulate here.
This granulate can later be used for the
manufacture of new products. Combined
with adhesives, for example, it can be used
in the construction of sports complexes,
in moulded parts for road construction,
as an additive to asphalt or in the construction
industry. Due to its material properties,
however, the granules are limited
to certain applications.
Active Fine Grinding
MeWa, the Gechingen-based machinery
builder, has developed its own process
to make this granulate into a high-quality
secondary raw material. The process works
at ambient temperature without the need
to add nitrogen. The so-called active fine
grinding of old rubber produces a raw
material with the best properties.
Active means the processing or pressing
of the rubber powder produced into
moulded parts without adding adhesives.
In future the material can be directly
added to the natural rubber in many
applications, replacing between 10 and
90 percent of it depending on the standard.
This makes the powder suitable for
a variety of products, as about the same
amount of rubber that tyre manufacturers
need is required for other applications in
the market.
The rubber powder end product stands
out due to its fine grain size and therefore
looks no different to the original rubber.
As the powder can be further processed
without expensive adhesives, it is itself
recyclable. The hitherto disadvantages
of the granules produced are therefore
eliminated. The rubber from the recycling
process is not only considerably cheaper
to make than natural rubber, it also conserves
valuable resources. ■
Using the active fine
grinding process, MeWa
produces a substitute raw
material of high purity out
of used tyres.
The powder can be mixed
back in for the manufacture
of rubber products
without any problem.
Up to 90 per cent of the
natural rubber originally
used can be replaced in
this way.
Rubber granules.
Active rubber powder.
MeWa-News December 2007

Hungary leads the way in tyre recycling
Output offers wide sales opportunities with high earnings
In the Hungarian town of
Cegléd, MeWa is currently
building an ultramodern plant
for recycling old tyres. It produces
a special end product in
the form of an uncontaminated
rubber powder for the highest
demands.
Already children benefit from
recycling products.
Fall protection: Moulded products
made of rubber granules.
MeWa-News December 2007
The active tyre powder from the used
tyre processing plant in the Hungarian
town of Cegléd can be mixed
directly back into the rubber production
process as a genuine secondary raw material.
Depending on the product, 10 to
90 per cent of the natural rubber originally
used can be replaced with this material.
The material is traded as correspondingly
valuable commodity. The market price is
From June 2008 the plant in Cegléd will process
20.000 tonnes of used tyres per annum.
around three times higher than is usual for
the conventionally produced granules.
The plant in the Hungarian Puszta
around 100 kilometres south-east of
Budapest will be operated by Euro-Rubber
GmbH. Company owner, Karoly Sziraki,
has been in the tyre processing industry
for over 15 years and processes around
half of the 40,000 tonnes of old tyres
collected every year in Hungary, mainly for
thermal recycling in the cement industry.
The plan is to widen this sales outlet in
future. To reach this goal, the entrepreneur
has made a large investment. The best
currently available tyre recycling technology
will soon enable a wide range of rubber
recycling products.
The new plant shreds both truck and
car used tyres according to the MeWa
three-stage principle: shredding, granulating
line, fine grinding. The rubber
granules in sizes of 0 to 4 mm are ex-
Latest news
pected to be sold for a variety of applications.
For example, its Hungarian sister
company, Euro-Novex GmbH, makes the
granules into sound insulation mats for the
building industry. An order is in the pipeline
from the Hungarian ministry of transport.
The plan is to use the rubber powder
mixture to comfortably expand the cycle
paths in the predominantly flat country
into a 9000-kilometre-long network.
And the small grains of rubber can also be
incorporated into playground surfaces,
providing the children with an effective
form of protection when they fall.
However, the new plant further processes
a large part of the granular material
into a much more valuable rubber powder.
The newly developed fine rubber mill
ultimately makes old tyres into a secondary
raw material in its most refined form. The
active rubber powder can be directly mixed
with natural rubber at the right pressure
and temperature conditions. Rubber
hoses, rubber mats or other technical rubber
products can therefore be produced in
future out of 10 to 90 per cent recycled
material depending on the product. ■
Cegléd – gateway to the Puszta
The city with its 38,000 inhabitants
is well-known as a spa. Nearby rises 17
mineral sources, which are bottled as
the popular Mira-water.
Cegléd is also the gateway to the
great Hungarian lowlands. The landscape
known as Puszta with its sandy
ground, draw wells and isolated
farms took up half the national territory
of Hungary. Tourists like this wide and
flat piece of cultivated landscape as a
paradise for horseback riding.

Market & trends
Secondary raw material in three stages
Tyre Recycling with
the latest technology
Recycle before incinerating.
This guideline also applies to
old car and truck tyres. The
maxim is to separate the rubber,
steel and textile parts
from old tyres
and to put
them back
into the raw
material
cycle. MeWa
Recycling supplies
complete
recycling plants
for this purpose
from one source.
Granulating line.
Tyre shreds after pre-shredding.
Anyone investing in a tyre recycling
plant expects it to be a costeffective
operation. Besides a
fixed amount paid to the operator for the
disposal of the old tyres, further income
also has to be made from the neatly sorted
scrap. The sales income naturally depends
on the quality of the output material and
the pricing structure depends on processing
that is as efficient as possible.
For this purpose, MeWa has designed
a three-stage processing principle (shredding,
granulating line, fine grinding),
which ultimately produces very high-
quality materials for recycling. That could
be shreds for thermal recycling, predominantly
in the cement industry, a rubber
granules between 0 and 4 millimetres
for various applications and, as a premium
product, a genuine secondary raw material
in the form of an active rubber powder.
This can be directly added back to
the raw material used in the production
of rubber.
The machines for the three-stage
process have also been designed by the
company from Gechingen. Pre-shredding
is done by a UNI-CUT ® UC rotary shear.
This shreds complete car and truck tyres
up to a diameter of 1.4 metres. What is
special about this is that the textile and
steel beading can be left in the tyre to start
with and does not require a great deal of
expense and effort to be sorted out by
MeWa-News December 2007

hand. This step is done mechanically in
the course of the process. The final result
is even, approximately hand-sized pieces
of tyre (shreds).
High Purity of Granules
A granulating line then turns these
shreds into very pure granules using the
UNI-CUT ® UG granulators and UNI-CUT ®
USM cutting mills. The tyre pieces are granulated
in several stages to a grain size
between 0 and 4 mm and filled in big
bags ready for sale in three grain sizes
(0 to 0.7 mm, 0.7 to 2 mm and 2 to 4
mm). After every stage the steel is separa-
Cutting mills granule the rubber to a grit size
of less than 4 mm.
The granules is packaged in different
grit sizes – ready for sale.
MeWa-News December 2007
ted using magnets, whilst textile remains
(fluffs) are extracted by suction. After the
last processing stage comes an elaborate
dividing and cleaning process, which
guarantees the highest quality standards
in the end product. The granule purity levels
at the end are around 99.99 per cent
free of steel wire and 99.9 per cent free
of textile fluff.
For refining purposes, a fine rubber
grinding mill can turn the cleaned granules
from a size of 2 to 4 mm into an
active rubber powder (< 1 mm) in a third
processing stage. Active rubber powder
means that this material can be mixed
directly with natural rubber as a secondary
raw material. Depending on the product
and quality level, between 10 and 90 per
cent of this can be replaced.
This finely ground material can currently
be sold on the market at very high
prices, as the demand for substitute na-
Market & trends
tural rubber has grown enormously due
to increasing raw material prices. This
tendency is on the increase because
approximately the same amount of natural
rubber, which tyre manufacturers need
for new production, is also called for in the
market for other products. ■
Pre-shredding.

Market & trends
Fine grinding
The fine grinding of granules produced from old tyres can be done in various ways.
The result is materials with widely differing properties.
Cryogenic process
Also called cold grinding. The rubber
or the granule is cooled with liquid
nitrogen, making it very brittle. The rubber
breaks apart like glass during the shredding
process. This makes it possible to achieve
very small grain sizes with low mechanical
effort, meaning with little motor power.
Subsequent application areas include
additives for paints. Due to its smooth surface,
however, this finely ground material
cannot be used as a natural rubber substitute.
High prices for liquid nitrogen also
make it increasingly difficult to operate
such plants economically.
Ambient process
Rubber ground at ambient temperature.
The process works like the cryogenic
process with a turbo mill at the shredding
stage, only without the addition of
nitrogen. The grain size is consequently
larger than that achieved with cold grinding.
The process is also cheaper, however.
The consistency of the output material is
also different. The application areas are
therefore very similar to the granular material.
The fine grain nevertheless makes the
powder from the ambient process considerably
better looking than the coarse
granule, which is reflected in the
attainable market prices.
Active powder
With the help of special cylindrical
mills, the newly developed process produces
a rubber powder, which due to its
rough and angular surface structure can
itself be re-pressed. As a result, it can also
be directly mixed back into the production
process of technical rubber products. Depending
on the quality level required in the
end product, between 10 and 90 per cent
of the natural rubber can be replaced. Due
to the high raw material prices for natural
rubber, the powder can also achieve high
market prices. ■
Packaging of rubber powder – ready for sale.
A MeWa fine mill produces rubber powder.
MeWa-News December 2007

Zillertal opts for biogas
In the Austrian valley of
Zillertal, a biogas plant is
currently being established
with pre­shredding technology
by MeWa. The QZ has
convinced the experts in
test runs. Its new field
of application is now eagerly
anticipated.
The plant is expected to supply
the Zillertal biogas company, Bioenergie
Schlitters, 330 Kilowatts of
power from January 2008. For this purpose,
Finsterwalder Umwelttechnik GmbH has
designed a concept in which the QZ from
MeWa plays a crucial role. Around 6,000
tonnes of food waste, biowaste and outof-date
food are expected to be converted
into energy, waste water and compost in
the modern biogas plant in future.
The material from households and tourist
establishments in Zillertal must first
be broken down and the contraries in it
separated out. ”In this
respect the QZ has two
immediate advantages
over conventional cutting
systems“, says
Klemens Finsterwalder
from the german planning
agency FITEC. Firstly the machine can
process and separate metallic contraries
without any problem. For example, these are
often found in biowaste in the form of
cutlery from tourism businesses. But even
an axle from a biowaste bin or packaged
food are no problem for the QZ.
The particular benefit of the QZ is
shown by its chains when processing the
biomass. These open up the biomass in
such a way that a much larger surface
area is created compared with cut types of
biowaste. This gives the bacteria a much
larger surface area to attack during the
fermentation process. The principle is
comparable with that of a mortar, which
really allows the aromas to be released
from herbs. Experts are hoping for a usable
energy yield in future, which will beat
similar plants with conventional cutting
systems in the shredding sector by up to
30 per cent.
MeWa-News December 2007
“In this respect the QZ
has two immediate
advantages over
conventional cutting
systems.“
With its resources and the peasant
culture and tradition the Zillertal is
very popular with ecology-minded
tourists.
The contraries are separated at the
Schlitters plant in two stages. After shredding
in the QZ and again later during the
continuous fermenter cleaning process.
The conditioned organic remains are sanitised
in a double-tube heat exchanger after
shredding and added to the fermenter.
The process itself requires electrical and
thermal energy. These
are produced from
the biogas in a combined
heat and power
plant. The excess
energy is fed into the
public network in the
form of electricity. The heat is used for
heating and hot water production. The
fermentation remains are divided into
compost and raw sewage. ■
Schlitters
in the valley of Zillertal
Schlitters is a romantic, family-friendly
village at the entrance to the valley of
Zillertal. All those who care for fresh
mountain air and Alpine sports take
to the Zillertal and get inspired by the
valley’s scenic beauty and exhilarating
experience, the tourism association
promises. The small village with its
1,500 inhabitants offer not only onmountains
adventure for them who
loves to take the summit, but also
relief from the stress.
Market & trends
From January 2008 the fermenter delivers
nonpolluting energy.
Even packed food can be processed
by the QZ.
The QZ at the biogas plant in Schlitters.

MeWa-International
New WEEE plant for Kent
MeWa becomes market leader in England
Plastics fraction of high purity.
The electronics recycling company
Specialist WEEE Processing
(SWEEEP Ltd), based in Sittingbourne
Kent opened an Authorized
Treatment Facility to deal with the UK’s
electronic waste in June 2007.
“The primary reason for
selecting MeWa is that it is the
preferred plant for
WEEE directive compliant
recyclers.”
The plant has a capacity of 80,000
tonnes per annum and takes electronic
waste from local authorities, compliance
schemes and businesses all across London
and the South of England.
The completely enclosed QZ dismantles the whole WEEE-scrap.
German company MeWa provided
the technology for the plant, this system
includes MeWa’s patented QZ machine.
The turn key plant was being installed in
time for the kick off of the WEEE directive
in July. MeWa technology was chosen
after extensive visits to plants in both the
UK and continental Europe.
Patrick Watts Managing Director of
SWEEEP said, “The primary reason for
selecting MeWa is that it is the preferred
plant for WEEE directive compliant recyclers
throughout Europe and the UK”.
Trevor Roberts MeWa’s UK sales ma-
MeWa-News
Impressum
Publisher:
MeWa Recycling Maschinen
und Anlagenbau GmbH
Gültlinger Straße 3, 75391 Gechingen
Tel. 0049 (0)7056 925-0
E-Mail: info@mewa-recycling.de
Editors: Harald Pandl
nager adds “we are very
pleased to deliver this project
to the south of England;
this is the seventh
large scale turnkey project
we have installed in
the UK”. ■
Print: Druckhaus Weber GmbH,
Althengstett
Design: MeWa in cooperation with
Creativ-Werbung M. Dostal, Tiefenbronn
Photograph credits: MeWa, Euro-Novex
(Page 3), Zillertal-Tourism (Page 7)
Publication frequency: 4 x per year
MeWa-News December 2007