Pyrolyx buys tire recycler to expand US operations

Munich, Germany — Recovered carbon black supplier Pyrolyx AG has made a series of moves to shore up its still nascent US operations ahead of moving its headquarters to facilities under construction in Terre Haute, Indiana.

In a recent business update, Pyrolyx said it had secured additional debt funding and agreed to buy the assets of tire recycling business J&R Used Tire Service Inc for $4.5 million (€3.9 million).

J&R is setting up a tire-shredding facility in Newport, Indiana, primarily to supply feedstock to Pyrolyx’s first commercial size tire pyrolysis plant in Terre Haute.

Rated at 13,000 tonnes of rCB per year, the plant is set to start operations by end of June 2019, according to Pyrolix.

J&R invested $2.15 million to develop the new plant in Newport, which has a rated shredding capacity of 350,000 passenger tires a month.

The new plant is part of J&R's worn-tire collection business that operates throughout Indiana and Illinois and into neighbouring states as well, according to Rodney Rogers, former owner.

Pyrolyx said purchasing J&R helps it secure the supply of waste tires for its Terre Haute plants.

The move also provides Pyrolyx with an opportunity to approach waste tire generators, such as the major retail chains or tire manufacturers, with a "cradle-to-grave" concept.

Rogers will continue to work with Pyrolyx, evaluating potential additional sites for operations and helping to secure outlets for the Pyrolyx process's byproducts, such as wire, oil, etc.

In Germany, Pyrolyx has closed its Munich headquarters and transferred many of the global administrative functions US-based based personnel.

The company remains in discussions with its workers at its research and design facility in Stegelitz, Germany, about their future.