How Kal Tire can solve the challenge of scrap mining tires

“It’s a very important step along that road of solving the enormous challenge of scrap tires and giving mines a way to operate in a way that’s more environmentally responsible.”

Scott Farnham

Director of Recycling Services, Kal Tire’s Mining Tire Group

SOLVING THE CHALLENGE OF SCRAP MINING TIRES

Kal Tire’s new OTR tire recycling plant in Antofagasta, Chile, employs a unique thermal conversion process that uses heat and friction to induce a reaction that converts tires into their base elements so they can be reused. At full production, the plant will recycle five 63” tires or 20,000 kilograms a day; if the plant runs a minimum of 250 days of the year, that’s 5 million kg or 1,250 earthmover tires in a year. Now, as Kal Tire begins to recycle some of the estimated 500,000 tonnes of scrap tires in Chile, the potential opportunities for reuse of the materials are growing, as is the appetite for an approach that creates this kind of circular economy. With a groundswell of interest in supporting a circular economy and ESG commitments taking greater focus in the mining industry, interest in Kal Tire’s recycling solution grows too.