Tyres

Waste tyres are a significant environmental concern with the majority of waste tyres commonly going to both legal and illegal landfill sites or stockpiles, with some to incineration. 

The major concern in relation to tyre stockpiles is their potential to catch fire. These fires are usually difficult to control and can result in the generation of complex chemical cocktails. The black smoke, hydrocarbons and dioxins pollute the atmosphere, whilst chemical and metal contamination occurs in the ground soil and watertable. The problems are exacerbated when large volumes of water have been used to extinguish the fire and there is run-off to watercourses.

Discarded tyres cause other environmental and public health risks. They provide a habitat for disease carrying mosquitoes and insects, which may either be unchecked with the resultant potential for spread of disease, or alternately pesticides are used to control the spread, with some environmental damage from the use of chemical sprays.

In addition to the risks of fire and disease there remains the problem of instability which results from tyres rising to the surface in a landfill site, creating settlement problems and affecting the sites potential for future land use and reclamation.

C6 Energy has developed an integrated system for the processing of waste tyres, which produces steel, residual carbon and oil, and gas which can be used to generate electricity.