Tire rubber is recycled for footwear components

SYNTHELAST S.A., is located in the industrial area of the province of Alicante, with activity since 1973 in the plastic materials sector, designing, developing and optimizing polymers and elastomers, for use in the processing of articles in all industrial sectors, especially in the footwear sector.

The extensive experience of almost 50 years of the technical department, in product research, has made it possible to study and develop jointly with other national and European partners the implementation of a new recycling technology based on a process that combines two technologies, within the framework of a European project to develop and implement the first pilot plant based on this development, capable of recovering rubber from used tires.

This project for the devulcanization of rubber, starting from crushed out-of-use wheels, or from both post-industrial and post-consumer rubber shoe soles, manages to solve a real problem of waste management, allowing in turn, through this new technology, to obtain a devulcanized rubber, called Value-Rubber, to be used as a substitute for virgin rubber in conventional manufacturing processes, maintaining its original and quality properties, and thus avoiding the consumption of non-renewable resources, thus contributing to sustainability objectives.

According to the general director of SYNTHELAST, Francisco Javier Rodríguez, with this technology applied and starting from the use of this waste, it is achieved through a combined process of microwaves and extrusion, to convert waste that is thermostable, into a partially thermoplastic product for its reuse, both in the same products and in other products or different processes. All of this has already been achieved with the different tests carried out in the pilot plant, followed by the production of final rubber products by other members of the project.

This innovation project through which it is possible to recover the rubber from tires is now a reality; becoming a real circular economy project, with enormous potential for application in the footwear industry, as well as in other industries that use rubber or materials from rubber. Since through this project a recycled material is obtained that partially or totally replaces virgin rubber, and that can be used for the subsequent manufacture of products such as: footwear soles and components, and an infinity of flat and molded elements for various uses and applications.

The execution of the technological project has had an initial duration of 24 months, with subsequent extension to 36 months, and has had a total budget of 2,449,450 euros, of which 1,934,234 euros have been provided by the European Commission. The European Value-Rubber project officially began in September 2019, through a consortium made up of different entities from Spain, Belgium and France.

The VALUE RUBBER project currently has the participation and collaboration of the CETEC Technological Center - Murcia Region, the Polytechnic University of Cartagena, the company Synthelast S.A. from Elche (Spain) executor of the initiative, Dymotec de Olen (Belgium), dedicated to the design and construction of microwave systems for industrial uses; and Borflex (France), dedicated to the formulation and production of rubber elements and technical parts.

The project partners have worked together for more than two years to successfully develop DevulCore, an innovative recycling technology for rubber from tires in the automotive industry, which achieves the devulcanization of rubber.

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