What should tire companies look for when investing in tire pyrolysis? Martin von Wolfersdorff, principal advisor, Wolfersdorff Consulting, offers his advice
To make the circular economy work for the tire industry, integration with tire recycling technologies including tire pyrolysis is required. Many of the top tire makers have started this journey – for example Bridgestone with its minority share in Delta-Energy and Michelin with its recent acquisition of Lehigh Technologies.
The biggest challenge that tire companies have in engaging with the tire pyrolysis sector is a lack of transparency. “There are so many tire pyrolysis companies claiming that they have the only working tire pyrolysis technology. They all say they will change the world. It is difficult to tell the good ones apart from the dreamers,” one of the top five tire manufacturers in the world told me, for whom I have benchmarked the global top 40 tire pyrolysis companies (out of 300).
My presentation at the Tire Technology Expo Conference will give insights on the current state of the global tire pyrolysis industry and it will highlight what tire companies need to know when considering integration of tire pyrolysis. Surprisingly, technology is only 34% of the success and yet this is often the only and major criterion being looked at!
My presentation will also indicate promising technical developments in the tire pyrolysis industry which could both be of interest to the tire industry and trigger engagement.
Listen to von Wolfersdorff’s presentation on Day 2 of the show (February 21) at 4.00pm in stream 7, Research for Sustainable and Reclaimed Materials.
