The pass comes to you at the perfect time. You’re sprinting down the field towards the goalie, the final obstacle between you and glory. You cut left and then hook the soccer ball towards the top right corner.
GOAL!!
Celebrations last for hours after the match. You’re the hero of the night, but you take extra time to thank your brilliant teammates for the exceptional goal assist.
It turns out you have more than teammates to thank for making your club soccer dreams a reality. The unlikely machine behind your goal and every other triumphant moment on that artificial soccer turf, is the humble ECO Crumbler.
The ECO Crumbler is an unassuming piece of tire recycling equipment. It takes shredded tires and chews them into crumb-sized chunks. During this process, the crumbler removes unwanted fiber. The quality crumb rubber produced goes out to many industries, including artificial turfs and sports fields.
Specifications in Context
The ECO Crumbler is a granulator specifically designed for tire recycling. Granulators have several components. The number of blades, the hydraulic power, and the machine’s shape affect total capacity and output quality. Here are key output specifications from the ECO Crumbler:
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Processes four metric tons per hour
The average waste tire weighs about 25 pounds. So at total capacity, the ECO Crumbler recycles the equivalent of 350 tires per hour.
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Generates granules from 16 to 4 mm(1/4inch)
Anything less than 20 mm is considered top-notch crumb rubber. This granulator processes crumb rubber even finer than this benchmark.
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Removes 99.9% of tire fluff
Tire fluff is one of the largest by-products of tire recycling along with steel. Fluff consists of nylon and fiber that make tires more durable on the roads. Separating the fluff from rubber is a more difficult task than removing the steel because, unlike steel, the fluff cannot be teased out with a magnet.
Crumb Rubber Grades and the ECO Crumbler
Understanding the different grades of crumb rubber helps us rank the ECO Crumbler among other granulators and crumb rubber machines. There are five grades of crumb rubber classified from No. 1 crumb rubber to No. 5. The highest quality grade is No. 1, while No. 5 crumb rubber is the lowest grade.
A look at the highest and lowest grades helps illustrate the physical differences and subsequent value of crumb rubber grades:
No. 5 Crumb: The crumbs may be a range of sizes. The rubber is not separated from tire fluff or tire wire, making it difficult to use in many applications.
No. 1 Crumb: The rubber crumbs are of a consistent size and all are smaller than 20 mm. All of the steel tire wire and fluff are removed.
The ECO Crumbler produces the highest quality crumb rubber. This allows the output to be used in many applications, increasing the demand and raising the selling price. Many tire recycling lines only process tires into shreds or low-grade crumb, limiting their end product sellability. The ECO Crumbler gives you a competitive advantage over your competitors.
The Crumb Rubber Market
It’s worth considering what doors the ECO Crumbler opens in the crumb rubber market. The civil engineering sector spends millions of dollars every year on crumb rubber in the United States.
A recent crumb rubber industry analysis on Market Watch stated that “Sport and playground surfaces use more than 100 million pounds of crumb rubber yearly.” With more and more companies looking for sustainably sourced resources. Experts expect the demand for quality crumb rubber to increase for:
- Asphalt Production – the addition of rubber makes the road surface more durable.
- Athletic Tracks and Sports Fields – Reduces injuries on indoors surfaces and allows use throughout the year
- Playgrounds – Creates a soft and low maintenance surface for children
- Floor Mats – Makes cheap and sustainable mats
- Porous Drainage Pipes – filters out storm debris without blocking water flow
- Landscaping – saves walking tracks from constantly eroding
Without recycled tires, many of these industries would source rubber from scratch. Natural rubber is more expensive and less environmentally-friendly than recycled options. Tire recyclers exclude themselves from these market opportunities by not investing in a crumb rubber machine like the ECO Crumbler. Tire-derived fuel production is a great place to hold claim as a recycler but demand can vary, and it pays to have multiple output options.
In a Wrap:
The ECO Crumbler is a key machine to help you transform scrap tires into a marketable resource. The crumb rubber industry is huge and investing in an ECO Crumbler opens the door to business growth opportunities. Find out more about the ECO Crumbler and other tire-recycling specific equipment here.
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