Mathe Group, an innovative South African company, manufacturing high quality rubber granulate from post-consumer tyres, is leading the way in tyre recycling. The process utilises sophisticated American technology, and generates a variety of useful products.
The 2,500-sq m factorystarted operationsin February. It’s equipped with approximately R20 million worth of cutting-edge equipment from China, the first of its kind in South Africa.Old tyres are ground into rubber crumbs then used in a variety of innovative products.
“I have been through the difficulties but I have made it possible, I could see myself as a small growing business. My interest was in manufacturing but today I can see myself, a grown up person who does the manufacturing, one of the few industrialists in South Africa,” said VusumuziMathe from Mathe Group. “The product that we have invented recently is the paving bricks made out of the rubber crumbs. So this is a paving brick that is approved internationally, it’s being used in pre-schools whereby they no longer use the concrete pavers, so we ventured into that. All the pre-schools are going to use so that if the kids run outside they shouldn’t get injured,” he added.
The crumbs can be used as foundation for sports fields, public spaces and playgrounds utilising artificial turf. Mathe encourages other entrepreneurs to step out of their comfort zones.
“They should go out and find that they could do rather than selling fish and chips like everybody else. Try start up something that you can benefit out of it. I know it is a challenge,” he said.
The company processed approximately 40,000 tyres in 2015. It plans to increase this to around 150,000 over the next two years.