FEATURED TOPIC – TYRE RECYCLING
Shoulders to the wheel OZTYRE RECYCLERS’ TONY PATTI IS HOPING TO TURN AN AUSTRALIAN EXPORT BAN ON TYRES INTO AN OPPORTUNITY. WITH THE HELP OF WASTE INITIATIVES, HE’S PUT THE WHEELS IN MOTION FOR A BRIGHTER FUTURE.
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s a “young bloke” Tony Patti was taught if you’re going to recycle, you should be able to take a product and recycle it into something else. Family business OzTyre Recyclers is “not there yet”, but is well on the way. The company has set an ambitious target to be one of the first in the sector in Australia to recycle 100 per cent of used tyres and have an Australian market for the endproduct. Waste Initiatives is helping it reach that target. Waste Initiatives’ approach has always been to pair innovative Australian recyclers with the best equipment that can be sourced
The tyre shredder at OzTyre Recyclers is a new design developed over two years.
42 / WMR / December 2021
globally. They recognise that this often requires some creative “outside the box” solutions. Tony is pivoting the company to tyre shredding and crumbing, with the aim of providing rubber for a more diversified market such as shoe soles and gym mats. “We want to get away from exporting rubber products,” Tony says. “We want to show the industry that it can be done. “China, at the moment, is punishing Australia in many ways, so there’s a shortage of supplies that are rubber-based. “Let’s make Australia self-sufficient and do recycling 100 per cent in Australia.” While the idea to diversify has been
brewing for some time, Tony says the export ban on tyres, particularly baled tyres, was the kick-start the family needed to take the next step. To get them there, Tony’s son Jaidyn found Jason Sargeant at Waste Initiatives. Waste Initiatives has designed and supplied waste management equipment and recycling systems since 1975. OzTyre Recyclers set them a new challenge – one shredder that could do the work of two. Jason Sargeant, Waste Initiatives Equipment Consultant – Waste Projects, says the OzTyre Recyclers shredder is a new design developed over the past two years. The result is a tyre shredder with an integrated rotary screen. The turnkey system includes infeed and outfeed conveyors, controlled by a main PLC control station. It’s been designed and engineered to take whole tyres down to 50mm chip, suitable for export and reuse as Tyre-Derived Fuel (TDF), and for further processing. Jason says Waste Initiatives worked closely with Tony to get the desired outcome. “For OzTyre Recyclers, the output size needed to be 50mm, which can be used as a Tyre-Derived Fuel and is an exportable product. But it can also be taken down to the next stages – a 25mm piece, from there a granule and crumb. “There was some back and forth and we’ve made a few improvements here and there. Some things we custom designed. We’ve worked on
