True Recycling of Rubber-Needed Now More Now Than Ever

True Recycling of Rubber- Needed Now More Than Ever

The first thing that a rubber chemist learns is that rubber cannot be recycled, but can only be converted to another physical form, to be used as a filler, for example.  The prevalent belief is that rubber is not amenable to recycling of scrap akin to the way that the plastics industry has done for years.  While this may have been true in the past, recent advances in true recycling technology offer a new economic opportunity for rubber processors.
Current economic conditions have made it even more important to be able to recover and reuse from 10-40% of the total feedstock used in the process.  Widely varying rubber prices as well as economic slowdowns and reduction in throughput mean that the potential to reduce raw material costs and improve production efficiency is more critical than ever before.  In addition, customers’ expectations and corporate governance are mandating that environmentally friendly or “green” practices be initiated in the industry.
This paper will provide an update to the paper we were pleased to present at the 170th Technical Meeting of the Rubber Division, American Chemical Society, in Cincinnati, OH, held on October 10-12 2006.  We will report on the current status of the Watson Brown High Shear Mixer methodology for rubber recycling, including results from the initial production facility in Germany which began operation earlier this year.  Material property results for a number of rubber formulations using various amounts of devulcanized material will be presented.
Our further plans to increase our capabilities will be announced.