North East Tyre Recycling manufactures tyre bales to British Standard PAS 108 for the construction and civil engineering sectors
(08/02/2010)

Landfill of scrap tyres was prohibited in 2003 and landfill of shredded rubber was prohibited in 2006. Since that time the recycling industry has struggled to come up with an environmentally friendly solution to tyre recycling. Until the advent of the BSI standard bale, some scrap tyres would be stripped of their rubber which would be turned into chips for horse gallops, children’s play areas and weed suppressant products. Others were shipped overseas to become retreads for the Third World.

North East Tyre Recycling Ltd is set to create four jobs immediately with four more over the coming summer by becoming one of the first firms in the North to manufacture tyre bales to British Standard PAS 108 for supply to the construction and civil engineering sectors.

The environmental credentials of the bales are twofold as they solve the problem of disposing of scrap tyres, and they save contractors using finite resources such as gravel or stone. Typical applications include land barriers, roadway foundations, gabions and flood defence walls. Since the BSI standard for the bales is relatively new, North East Tyre Recycling is working with the construction industry to identify new uses for the tyre bales.

The company has invested in the design and manufacture of a bespoke hydraulic tyre baler, and in a staff training program to ensure the bales are manufactured to consistent quality standards.

The tyre bales measure 1.5 x 1.3 meters, weigh between 8-900 kilos and are composed of between 120 and 150 crushed tyres. They are increasingly used in the construction, marine and civil engineering sectors since they form a solid wall or infill with good drainage.

North East Tyre Recycling managing director Peter Moody says: “The BSI standard is a great step forward for the tyre recycling industry and provides useful material for the construction industry. We intend to be market leaders in the supply of PAS 108 bales here in the UK and the EU. We have invested in machinery and training, and are in interesting discussions with the civil engineering and marine construction sectors. These bales answer the challenge of environmentally friendly tyre recycling while providing civil engineers with a product of consistent quality and known physical properties”.

PAS 108 tyre bales cut shipping and processing costs while offering a real advantage to civil engineers by providing a sustainable, high specification product with an increasing range of uses.

North East Tyre Recycling collects scrap tyres from garages, Councils and industry throughout the north of England and southern Scotland.