Tirex Signs Deal to Supply Tire Recycling System

The Tirex Corp., Westport, Conn., has entered into a joint venture agreement with Wyoming Corporate Headquarters (WCH), West Columbia, S.C., to recycle scrap tires collected at WCH’s Tennessee facility.

"With the successful collection of scrap tires, this joint venture moves Tirex from its developmental stage to a commercial entity with revenue-generating operations and is just the tip of the iceberg for the expansion of our technology into the market," says John Threshie Jr., president of Tirex. "Since we own 25 percent of the joint venture, revenues to Tirex could be significant in 2012."

The engineering construction firm JECC, based in Quebec, will undertake the fabrication and installation of the tire recycling system, estimated to cost $7.5 million.

WCH, the majority owner of Altgen LLC, Evanston, Ill., has been awarded a statewide license from the State of Tennessee giving the company the legal right to collect, store and process used and rejected tires at its 100,000-square-foot leased facilities in the Memphis area. Brooks Stanton, CEO of WCH, says the licensure was one of the final critical pieces needed to transition to production.

Tirex's TCS-2 tire recycling system has been selected for use at the facility, representing the first commercial installation of a TCS-2 system.

"Tennessee generates more than 45,000 tons of scrap tires annually, and we are negotiating, on a county-by-county basis, the collection and recycling fees it generates ranging from $50 to $90 per ton received at collection," Stanton says.

"Herculean efforts have gone underway to get Altgen LLC in the position of readiness that we are in today to support the Altgen-Tirex plant in Tennessee," adds Stanton. "I'm excited about the alignment with Tirex because the move not only allows an opportunity to leverage new technology faster, it also creates a strong strategic position for growth and expansion in a timely manner.”

Louis Muro, founder of Tirex, says the venture is the culmination of many years of developmental work. “I am delighted to be getting our first commercial system into the marketplace with WCH and Altgen," Muro observes.