Michelin begins construction of a tire recycling plant based on Enviro technology
Type of post: NEWS.
Michelin is launching construction on its first tire recycling plant in collaboration with Enviro, a Swedish company that has developed a patented technology to recover carbon black, oil, steel and gas from end-of-life tires.
Press releases:
Figure 1. Enviro process
The plant, which will be based on Enviro’s patented pyrolysis technology, will be located in Chile and will have an annual recycling capacity of 25,000-30,000 tons. Work will begin in 2021, with production scheduled to get underway in 2023. More than 30 M$ will be invested in this new-generation end-of-life tire processing plant. The parties intend to form a joint venture, which will own the facility. This joint venture will be 10% owned by Enviro and 90% owned by Michelin. Michelin will appoint the Board members of the company, but Enviro is entitled to appoint an observer, who will participate in meetings and receive the same information as the Board members.
Enviro and Michelin have also signed a licensing agreement that regulates the right to use Enviro’s patented pyrolysis technology and compensation for such use. The license agreement extends through 2035 and entitles Michelin, in addition to the joint plant in Chile, to establish its own recycling plants based on Enviro’s technology in selected countries and to sell recycled products globally. On establishing further such plants, Michelin shall compensate Enviro with a predetermined, fixed non-recurring amount and percentage-based, and under certain conditions variable, royalties, in line with the market and based on the plant’s sales. Enviro retains the right to establish recycling plants in cooperation with other parties, but Michelin has a time-limited exclusivity to Enviro’s pyrolysis technology in Chile and in respect of mining tyres globally.
Scrap tires will be collected directly from customer premises, then transported to the plant to be cut up and recycled. Enviro has developed a semi-batch technology ensuring minimum energy consumption and maximum control of the environment and process within the reactors. The patented CFC technology (Carbonization by Forced Convection) enables full control over the temperature and other key parameters in the pyrolytic process. Heated pyrolytic gas is circulated inside the reactor until the organic material has been heated evenly to the correct temperature. The CFC process enables the production of end products of very high quality. The carbon fraction can be sold as carbon black instead of being discarded. Produced oil is sold as fuel oil, further refined or used to generate electrical power. Recovered steel is a valuable commodity sold to the scrap steel market or directly to steel companies. The gas generated by the process is circulated in the system to optimize the use of heat and energy to run the main process efficiently.
