By Mohani Niza
Since 1995, there has been a technology offered in Malaysia called DeLink that reprocesses End-of-Life tyres (ELTs) and turns them into consumer products. The process is called devulcansation and it is offered by Malaysian company Green Rubber Global, a part of the Petra Group conglomerate.
According to a World Business Council for Sustainable Development report, approximately 1 billion ELTs enter the environment globally each year. A further 4 billion are estimated to be held in stockpiles and landfills. This alarming number has continued to grow since the report’s publication. Malaysia is also beset with this problem, and the number of waste tyres in the country is estimated to be 8.2 million annually.
Tyres are among the largest and most problematic environmental problems due to the durability and components that are ecologically hazardous. Managing used tyres is an urgent environmental and health issue. Turning this situation on its head, Green Rubber Global says it is changing this problematic source of waste into a new revenue opportunity for Malaysia.
At a recent press conference Datuk Vinod Sekhar, President and Group Chief Executive, announced that the group is building a new factory that will be located in Putra Industrial Park. It will occupy 25,000 sq ft and will feature, among other things, a well-equipped laboratory, R&D and quality department to support the technical service team in the field, working in conjunction with Tun Abdul Razak Centre in the UK, and a wider range of products.
He said green rubber represents a new revenue opportunity for Malaysia, and is valued at more than RM100 million annually. “Commercial viability is at the heart of sustainability and the core driver behind the growth of Green Rubber. Independent research shows global demand for industrial rubber products is projected to grow at 6.6% annually to US$158 billion in 2018,” added Sekhar at the press event on 12 March.
“We are going to produce 25,000 tonnes of green rubber, and that is only for the first plant. Our growth plan is 105,000 tonnes within three years, annually,” Sekhar said, adding that the factory will be operational in about five months from now. The facility will use the new fourth generation of the DeLink technology, including the patented DeLink reactant which devulcanises waste rubber and specialised process line used in the manufacture of green rubber.
Sekhar said green rubber usage is flexible as its quality can be controlled by manufacturers when blending it with virgin rubber, highlighting that most of the company’s clients are industrial firms like tyre suppliers, tyre retreading companies, conveyor belts producers and others like shoe company Timberland and New Balance.
However, the plan to go big is not without its challenges. According to Sekhar, one of the challenges faced by Green Rubber Global is meeting the capacity and demand of big buyers. “These big manufacturers require up to 50,000 tonnes of rubber, otherwise they won’t change their formulation. We have to work towards catering for this kind of capacity.”
The company sells its green rubber product through contract manufacturers locally and around the world but Sekhar said that will stop once the new plant is fully operational and running.
Meanwhile, Sekhar commented on cyclical situation of the rubber market. “Rubber prices will go up and the demand for rubber will increase,” he said, adding that the price of rubber is to reach sky high in the next two or three years, meaning that Green Rubber Global will be in a good position to cash in since its green rubber is priced lower than virgin rubber.