New tyre cutting machine launched

Massive dumps of scrap tyres could become a thing of the past, thanks to a high-speed flat-packing system that will make recycling much easier and reduce the space needed to store and transport them, according to Symphony Recycling Technologies.

The new SymTyre-S300 semi-automatic tyre cutter, which is said to be small enough to be used by local garages, reportedly reduces a tyre completely in 60 seconds, making it impossible to use again except for recycling, or as a feedstock for waste-to-energy or waste-to value recovery.

Symphony Recycling, based in Herts, UK, states instead of having to remove waste tyres en masse, with all the cost and logistic inefficiencies of transporting whole tyres, garages can now flat-pack them on site, and the valuable components of rubber and steel can be recycled later. Once tyres have been cut into sections they occupy up to 70 percent less space for storage and transportation purposes.

The company states recovering the material from tyres in a commercially viable way has long proved a difficult – and until now – almost impossible task, which has contributed to the difficulty of disposing of scrap tyres.

For the first time the technology used in this system allows tyres to be cut into three parts in one process: the two sidewalls and a tread. It then makes a transverse cut of the tread, turning it into a strip of rubber.

When the tyre has been dismantled, the components can be loaded into a specially designed cage or ‘stillage’ leading to considerable space and energy savings in storage and transport.

Symphony believes that the SymTyre-S300 will allow more control over the way scrap tyres are disposed of, saying it should reduce illegal tyre dumping, and opportunities for organised crime in the scrap-tyre trade.

Symphony Recycling Technologies is planning to offer a collection service for the flat-packed tyres from garages and tyre depots. The machines will be available on a sale or rental basis.