The bicycle tire project was initiated after we participated in a Circular Economy Award ceremony. We were contacted by Roestug and Waardering, two companies very familiar with the Circular Economy topic, that wanted to research if bicycle tires and tubes would be recyclable and start collecting, sorting and recycling.

After an initial meeting, we decided to research the recyclability of the tube material first, which was confirmed by Rubber Resources in Maastricht, a research done by Dario Potalivo. An initial agreement was made for delivery of 100% clean butyl tube material, minimum quantity of 10t per batch, so we could start investigating ways to separate tubes from their valves and patches.

The separation was first done by manual workers with distance to the labor market, and the test proved successful. This was followed by a research done by students from Windesheim University of Applied Sciences in Zwolle, who tested several ways to mechanically and physically detect and separate the valves and patches. A research that was finalized and presented at New Born Rubber in Grootegast.

The current stage of the project is writing out the next research steps: how to separate valves and patches mechanically to increase efficiency, to determine the influence of patch rubber in the devulcanization steps in order to set separation limits, and to develop samples of sheet material from devulcanized tire tubes for further processing as semi finished goods.

This project is running. If you want more information or want to supply feedstock or request samples, let us know!