As part of a cooperation agreement signed in September, Pyrum Innovations AG, a pioneering firm that uses its patented pyrolysis process to sustainably recycle used tyres, has received the first delivery of used bicycle tyres from Ralf Bohle GmbH, a European manufacturer of bicycle tyres and tubes with its Schwalbe brand.
Pyrum and Bohle signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in September to establish a long-term operation, expansion, and future development of a raw material recycling system for used bicycle tyres using pyrolysis.The goal is to employ recovered carbon black (rCB) from used tyre recycling as an ecological supplementary raw material in the creation of new Schwalbe products.
The collaboration envisions Bohle establishing a return network for bicycle trash tyres, where it will collect worn tyres and transfer them to Pyrum for further processing. Pyrum, on the other hand, takes over the mechanical processing and pyrolytic recycling of used tyres with its Dillingen pyrolysis plant, obtaining new raw materials from the tyres, including rCB.
Bohle extracts the pyrolysis product rCB from Pyrum in order to make new bicycle tires and tubes as soon as the usage of rCB in Schwalbe products is technically viable.
Both firms are currently working with the TH Köln on the technical feasibility of sustainable bicycle tyre recycling using pyrolysis as part of a ZIM (Central Innovation Program for SMEs) initiative sponsored by the Federal Ministry of Economic Affairs and Energy (BMWI).