Facility planned in Chile's Antofagasta region will scale up technology from Swedish recycling firm Enviro
Michelin and Scandinavian tyre recycler Enviro have unveiled plans to build a pioneering recycling plant in Chile that will be able to recycle tens of thousands of giant construction equipment tyres annually.
Announcing the plans late last week, the French tyre giant explained the plant - set to be its first industrial recycling facility - would scale up a cutting-edge technology developed by Enviro that recovers carbon black, oil, steel, and gas from end-of-life tyres.
Ninety per cent of the materials recovered at the factory will be reused into a variety of rubber-based products, such as new tyres, conveyor belts, and anti-vibration products, Michelin said, with the remaining 10 per cent used to generate heat and power at the plant.
It calculated the facility will be able to recycle 30,000 tonnes of construction equipment tyres annually, covering roughly 60 per cent of all the tyres of that category scrapped annually in Chile.
Sander Vermeulen, vice-president for marketing, business development, strategy, and new business for Michelin's high tech business line, said the recycling plant was a landmark moment in the firm's journey towards becoming a more circular business.
"This is a major milestone that will enable us to offer customers a new-generation recycling solution, while developing new business for the group," he said. "We are currently in talks with several Chilean mining customers to sign long-term contracts. By scaling up Enviro's technology, we are offering them a solution that will support their environmental objectives and enables the development of a circular economy."
The joint venture was announced more than 10 months after the two companies first unveiled their plans to enter into a 'strategic partnership' that would see the construction of a factory and a joint supply deal. While the partners initially predicted the agreement would be finalised in mid-2020, the process was subjected to a number of delays, which Enviro said was due to disruptions caused by the pandemic.
In a detailed post on its website setting out the nature of the 'strategic partnership' it has now inked with the tyre giant, Enviro explained it will hold a 10 per cent stake in the joint venture while Michelin will own 90 per cent. Michelin is already the largest shareholder in Enviro, having bought a 20 per cent stake in the firm last April.
The joint venture also includes a license agreement that gives Michelin the right to establish other recycling plants based on Enviro's technology until 2035, provided that it pays Enviro a fixed amount and pay royalties on its sales from these facilities to the recycling start-up.
The update also reveals that Enviro will receive SEK 15m (£1.3m) for engineering, design and project services in connection with the Chilean plant.