Australian tire recycler to expand capacity

Green Distillation Technologies (GDT) Corp. Ltd., based in Cremorne, Victoria, Australia, says it will expand the capacity of its plant in Warren, western New South Wales, by installing an additional processing module. The company has developed technology that processes end-of-life tires into oil, carbon and steel.  

Effectively, this will double the existing production output capacity of the plant in Warren, according to GDT. The company adds that it plans to install additional modules next year as funds become available, bringing the total number to six, to reach an annual processing capacity of 19,300 metric tons of tires.

GDT says work on the extension is underway and is expected to be completed by April 2021. Outside contractors, as well as GDT staff, will work on the addition.

The company says a typical 22-pound car tire will yield 3.6 liters of oil, 10 pounds of carbon and nearly 4.5 pounds of steel; a 154-pound truck tire will provide 25 liters of oil, nearly 73 pounds of carbon and nearly 31 pounds of steel; and a 4-metric-ton oversize mining dump truck tire will yield 1.9 metric tons of carbon, 0.8 metric tons of steel and 1,420 liters of oil. A fully operating plant, therefore, would generate 6.86 million liters of oil, 9,032 metric tons of carbon and 3,760 metric tons of recovered steel.

Chief Operating Officer Trevor Bayley says, “Clearly, investment funds are vitally important, and you have to spend money to make money, and our aim is to get the Warren plant to full capacity so we can not only provide positive proof of our technology but [also] the economics of our process through the sale of the oil, carbon and steel we produce.”

He says Warren is the site of the company’s original research and development work that started in 2009. Since proving the concept, GDT has moved to a 21-hectare location that allows for future expansion. 

The company also has a second facility in Toowoomba in southern Queensland that it is scaling to full production and has plans for five other Australian plants in Gladstone, Wagga, Geelong, Elizabeth and Collie.