Tyre 'freeze' recycle plant opens

The TyreGenic plant produces rubber 'crumb' from old tyres

About 9,000 car tyres a day will be recycled at a new £4m plant.

The owners of TyreGenics at Baglan, Neath Port Talbot, say it will reprocess over 30,000 tonnes of used tyres each year into rubber "crumb".

It uses liquid nitrogen to freeze tyres until brittle, then smashes them into tiny pieces for use as sports pitches and rubber flooring.

The plant, which is creating 25 jobs, is said by the company to be among the most advanced of its kind in the world.

The owners claim it already has contracts in place to sell 90% of the plant's "crumb" product.

Nick Wyatt, of TyreGenics UK, said the volume of tyres being recycled was the equivalent of all the tyres produced in Wales annually.

"Instead of those going for landfill, drainage or being burnt in cement kilns, they are getting recycled into usable product," he said.

The 'crumb' is sorted into grades for further treatment or direct use

The process itself will take place inside a 40ft (12.2m) closed conveyor unit, and uses large mechanical hammers.

Alongside the rubber "crumb", other by-products of the process include fibre, which is currently sent to landfill, and steel, which is used by Welsh steelworks.

The business, which has been supported by the Welsh Assembly Government, is a joint venture between majority shareholder Credential Environmental, BOC Gases and the Canadian artificial sports pitch business Field Turf Inc.

In 2003, the Environment Agency said urgent action was needed to cut the number of tyres dumped illegally in Welsh beauty spots.