Michelin will launch the construction of its first tire recycling plant with Enviro, a Swedish company that has developed a patented technology to recover carbon black, oil, steel and gas from used tires.
The plant, based in the Antofagasta region of Chile, will recycle 30,000 tons of earthmover tires each year, or nearly 60% of the end-of-life earthmover tires used in the country.
Work will start in 2021 to enable production to begin by 2023. More than 30 million dollars will be invested to build this first new generation used tire processing plant.
This new generation recycling plant will promote the circular economy through innovative recycling processes.
Collected directly from customers' sites, the tires will be brought to the plant to be cut up and then recycled. Enviro's technology, which generates new high-quality reusable materials - carbon black, pyrolysis oil, gas or steel - will allow for the recovery of 100% of tires at the end of their life.
As envisaged at this stage, 90% of the regenerated materials will be reused in several types of rubber-based production: tires, conveyor belts, anti-vibration products.
The remaining 10% will be recovered as energy, which will be used directly for the operation of the plant.