Since the beginning of the BlackCycle project there is the focus on developing deconstruction process technologies to recover the different rubber coming from very precise parts of the tyre. The target is to improve and define a selected quality and promise added value on the recycled raw materials for further industrial steps like granulation, pyrolysis or micronisation.
In the end of 2022 after design studies and many initial tests it was possible to select two deconstruction technologies: the ORC (Outside Rubber Cutting), which recovers the tread of passenger car and truck tyres, and the IRG (Inside Rubber Grinding) which allows to recover the innerliner of truck tyres. Both machines for these processes will offer some groundbreaking technological solutions to be able to treat any tyre from any brand and any dimension in a nearly fully automatically way. The corresponding patents for the new detection technology and steering robots will be finished in 2023.
Today the demo-line of the ORC machine is built and the startup phase is ongoing. So the first sampling material of high quality rubber raw material will be produced and available early this summer. Also the IRG machine is under construction now and the implementation is expected from September. The built up of the machine and basic functional tests are made near Clermont-Ferrand (France), and the ramp-up / implementation and processing itself will be at ESTATO site in Weiden (Germany).
ORC / IRG machine assembly and construction
