Recycling FAQs

In almost all regions of the world there is need for more tire processing. That said the real question is what are the markets in those regions for the materials produced from recycled tires. Our EGE Sales Representatives have many years of tire recycling experience and can assist you in identifying both the need for additional processors within a specific area, as well as helping identifying end use markets.

Most tire recycling equipment manufactures were producing other pieces of similar recycling equipment for use in the processing of scrap metal, plastics, aluminum and other materials. They took their base platforms for these machines and modified them to process tire materials. EGE took the approach of designing machines specifically to process tires in the most efficient, cost effective way possible. In doing so we have developed machinery that is easier to and less costly to maintain, while delivering superior quality materials at a lower cost per ton.

There are basically two types of tire derived product markets, commodity materials and value added materials. Commodity materials can be produced at each Stage of tire recycling Shredding, Secondary Shredding, Granulating and Cracker Mill. Examples of these commodity market materials include:

• Primary Shredder – Tire Derived Fuel (TDF) chips.
• Secondary Shredder – Low metal content TDF (smaller chips with less metal), rubber nuggets for mulch markets.
• Granulator – Crumb Rubber used as infill (dirt) in artificial turf systems.
• Cracker Mill – Rubber Powder used in place of SBR in rubber modified asphalts.

Examples of value added products include;

• Colored rubber mulch for use in landscaping and playground applications.
• Colored granules and crumb which can be mixed with urethanes to produce molded paver blocks and other molded products.
• Specific sized fine mesh rubber products from specific types of tires to produce materials such as 30 to 50 mesh rubber for use in plastics and rubber processing.

Generally speaking most US and European tire recycling machinery manufactures utilize a 4 step approach to tire recycling.

1. Step one into use a Primary Shredder which reduces the whole tire (with bead) down to a 12’ minus chip.
2. Step two involves a Secondary Shredder (also referred to as a grater or liberator) which reduces the 12” material down to a smaller material, usually 2” down 3’4” minus depending on the screen size used. This is the stage where the majority of the wire in the tire is removed. The screen size used determines the amount of wire that is removed from the rubber, up to 98% with a 3/4”screen.
3. Step three is to run the rubber chip or “nugget” into a Granulator which reduces the rubber to as small as 1/4” minus. Unlike the Primary and Secondary Shredders, both of which are low speed / high torque machines the Granulator is a high speed, single rotor machine similar to a plastic granulator. At this stage the remaining embedded wire is removed to produce 99.9% wire free material.
4. Step four is the Cracker Mill (Eco Green calls this our Krumbuster) which reduces the crumb rubber down to “powder’ with finish mesh sizes as small as 80 mesh minus material.

Our representatives have a vast b experience in tire recycling industry, they will help you from the day you contact us till the day you decide if you wish to go forward on your tire recycling project, also, we always encourage visiting our factory headquarters at Salt Lake City. With a little planning, we can usually test some of your material with our available equipment that hopefully meets your needs and requirements.

Recycling tires into materials such as steel-free crumb rubber and fine rubber powder used to be a profitable venture; however, due to market saturation in developed economies, tire recycling companies might want to shift their focus from raw materials to potentially higher-priced consumer goods made from recycled rubber or even virgin rubber which can be replaced by tire-derived materials. The first and so far one of the most viable choices of tire recyclers would be investing in presses and molds to produce molded goods from crumb rubber or rubber powder. Another option includes more complex technologies, e.g. blending recycled rubber powder with polyethylene or polypropylene to produce thermoplastic elastomers (TPE).

• Tire rubber
• Liberated steel wire
• Synthetic textile

While tire rubber is the most precious out of all recovered materials in tire recycling

Tire rubber

There are two main factors influencing prices and applications of recycled rubber: size and purity (from steel and fiber). Below is the list of recycled tire rubber sorted by size.

Tire chips

(≈50mm)

Tire chips are produced from rough tire shreds using the same primary shredder complemented by screening and recirculation equipment such as Eco Green Giant. Tire chips of this size can be sold as tire-derived fuel (TDF) or used to produce crumb rubber and fine rubber free of metal and fiber.

Wire-free rubber chips

(≈38-16 mm)

Tire chips free of steel are also referred to as rubber mulch is produced by a secondary shredder such as Eco Green Grater. The material can be used mainly in landscaping and playgrounds instead of conventional mulch. Thorough magnetic separation of steel allows to increase value of the product.

Crumb rubber

(≈16-3 mm and smaller)

Crumb rubber is a fiber-free and steel-free granulate produces by a granulator such as Eco Green Crumbler  that can be used in molded products like playground mats, rubber tiles, traffic safety equipment, rubberized asphalt, synthetic turf, rubberized flooring, sound insulation panels, porous drainage systems, etc.

Fine rubber powder

(≈0.85-0.15 mm)

Fine rubber powder is a high-quality and high-priced material 99.9% free of metal and 99.9% free of fiber produced by a cracker mill such as Eco Green Krumbuster. Fine rubber powder is used in sealings, liquid and spray coatings, membranes, insulation systems, thermoplastic elastomer blends, automotive appliances, rubber-modified asphalt and in many other fields of civil engineering.

Tire-derived steel

As a rule, up to 20 percent of a tire consists of high-quality steel wire, which is a valuable high-demand commodity. An advanced magnetic separation system allows collecting and reselling steel wire from tires to smelters, where it is further processed.

While tire derived steel is usually sold at low prices and rarely used in manufacturing, researchers claim that a huge volume of the material can be successfully reused in concrete. Interestingly, not only steel wire can be used to improve properties of concrete, but synthetic fibers, too.

Synthetic tire-derived textile

Usually, tires contain 5-15% of fiber and nylon which can be used as a supplement to tire-derived fuel in cement kilns, supplement to fiber-reinforced concrete, fiberglass, pressed carpets, absorbent cleanup material, etc.

Pyrolysis is a process in which tires can be subjected to high heat, under controlled conditions, resulting in steel, oil, and carbon black. Although it has been shown repeatedly to be scientifically possible, economically and practically it has not proven to be a viable process. High capital investment and operating costs typically inhibit tire pyrolysis from being made commercially available.

Recycled rubber is being used by manufacturers in a wide variety of applications today. Manufacturers prize scrap as a raw material input due in part to the cost and energy savings.

Here are a number of settings where we see recycled rubber most:

• Agriculture: Vegetation protectors and windbreaks, sheds, livestock mats, bumpers, and feeders – increasing yield and efficiency for the agricultural sector
• Sports: Infill for synthetic turf fields, indoor and outdoor running tracks, and fitness mats – broadening sports and fitness opportunities
• Playground Surfaces: Mulch and mats – cushioning our children’s falls
• Infrastructure: Rubberized asphalt on roadways – providing surface durability while lessening traffic noise, molded products such as railroad ties.
• Home & Garden: Landscaping mulch, molded products such as, flowerpots, garden hoses, benches, and welcome mats – creating useful everyday products

• Investigate your specific situation—local markets, local regulations, competition.
• Develop a business plan—be specific about details—match your plan against regulatory requirements, industry standards, and market conditions.
• Communicate with state and local regulatory agencies.

Contact your local small business assistance organization to help set up a business plan and learn about opportunities in your area.

The two other main materials are steel and fiber that can be reused in other applications requiring the material.

Standard rubber processing technologies yield three types of recovered materials:

• Tire rubber
• Liberated steel wire
• Synthetic textile

While tire rubber is the most precious out of all recovered materials in tire recycling, both textile and steel wire are referred to as by-products and do not yield significant profits.

It depends on what type of output your are intending to get, Full start-up expenses vary but Eco Green representative can help you examine the cost and output of your operation.

The tire recycling business is varied by everything from supply to geographic differences. There are as many people making money from the tire recycling as there are ways to do it. Let an Eco Green Representative help you from the start and specify equipment that will help provide maximum success. We have breakdowns, and sources to help you.

Many differences in Eco Green shredders are huge advantages for recycle operators such as high output capacity, the installed recirculation system, Estimated blade life , made in America, quality guaranteed, hydraulic motors for more durability and power, 4″ blades for shredding bigger tires, full system design with 3D modeling, full custom options and always less power consumption than any competing models. Your costs will always be lower with an Eco Green system from start-up to full operation.

Listed on this site are many sources in the Ecogreen blog section, but RMA.org and Scrap Tire News are good places to start.

One of the many advantages ECO Green Equipment provides its customers is the ability to remotely assist and troubleshoot technical problems. In conjunction with the ECO BRAIN control panel, ECO Green Equipment support team can remotely access customer’s equipment and receive error messaging and system updates.

Key features of our remote technical assistance are:

• Equipment Notifications are emailed automatically to ECO Green’s support team in the event of an equipment default error.
• Emergency Stop “Lock-Out” features on all major pieces of equipment.
• ECO Green Equipment Support Team verifies equipment is in working order before resuming production.

Call us today to learn more about the ECO Green Remote Technical Assistance. +1 (801) 505-6841.

While there are many factors that lead to the correct module, there are three primary factors that help us get going:

1. Application: What material do you need to process?  The more specific the better.
2. Throughput: How much material do you need to process? Typically we are working in weight per hour – often tons.
3. Output:How small are you looking for post shredding?

It starts with a simple questionnaire:

1. How many tons of tires do you plan to process per hour?
2. What size or type of tires are you planning to process?
3. What is your desired final product size?
4. What is your end use for your product?
5. What is your budget for this project?
6. When are you looking to purchase?
7. Where will the plant be located?

Upon your answers, it ends with a selected design or model specified for your application. Contact an ECO Green Equipment Representative to help you with your inquiry.

The newly designed ECO cutting blade system is state-of-the-art shredding technology with low wear cost features for new or existing shredder systems.

Each shredder contains replaceable knife inserts (24 for each blade) that provide 6 cutting edges per insert (operator can re-sharpen each insert 1x for an additional 6 cutting edges). Replacement is quick and easy with a common impact drill reducing downtime.
Estimated blade life is 3 million PTE (Passenger Tire Equivalent) with an estimated wear life of 2,500 tons per knife-edge.

This powerful combination provides years of worry free operation with minimal operating costs and maintenance…critical savings in a tire recycling operation.

Replacement is quick and easy with a common impact drill reducing downtime.
An operator can swap out a modular head in an hour or two and remove knives for re-sharpening. Simply dropping a second head in with fresh knives is far more efficient than any other brand machine that typically requires a full day changing knives while the whole operation is down.

TDF stands for Tire Derived Fuel in which rubber is used to replace or compliment other fuel sources for manufacturing facilities like paper mills, cement kilns, and other boilers or waste incinerators. TDF is made by Eco Giant Shredder for shred range in size from 50mm-150mm or by Eco Grater the Secondary Shredder for wire free chips with a specific size required by the buyer of the chip with size range from 38mm-16mm.

Yes. The ECO Green Giant series features the ability to process other materials in addition to tires and scrap rubber. It is a powerful all-purpose shredder that has the potential to alter the scrap rubber processing markets in addition to other waste applications.

Typically 4-6 months. We build each system to the specifications of each client.

We are a USA company located in Salt Lake City, Utah

Yes, by appointment, customers are invited to see our manufacturing and corporate headquarters in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA. We also have several operating facilities around the world which may be available for visits.

ECO Green provides operation, maintenance, and overall mechanical understanding of how the tire recycling equipment works. Additional on site training and facility visits by an ECO Green Equipment service representative is also available for an additional cost.

Yes. ECO Green can provide equipment installation services once the equipment arrives at a customers facility. Supervision, consultation, and project management supervision is also available at additional cost.

ECO Green provides immediate assistance from a dedicated support team. Through remote communications, we are able to diagnose and troubleshoot equipment problems with operators globally.

Our support team is available during normal business hours of 8am to 5pm MST. Monday–Friday by calling +1 (801) 505-6841 or sending an email to info@ecogreenequipment.com.

In the event of an evening or weekend emergency, customers are encouraged to call their assigned customer support representative.

Please also see our Service Page for additional information.