Australian motor trade body invests in tire recycler GDT

Queensland, Australia – The Motor Traders Association of Queensland (MTAQ) has invested in Australian tire recycler Green Distillation Technologies Corp., it was announced 2 March.

The move is part of a fund-raising round by the GDT, which aims to raise AUD$30 million (€17.6 million) to complete its existing facility in Warren, New South Wales, said GDT chief operations officer (COO) Trevor Bayley.

The company did not disclose further details about the size of MTAQ’s investment but added that the funds raised will also go towards building a new tire recycling plant in Toowoomba, Queensland.

In addition, the investment will contribute to the preliminary work on GDT's first plant in the US, where a €90-million agreement is in place to potentially build ten units.

“Our expansion plans are for five more plants in Australia in Glad-stone, Wagga, Geelong, Elisabeth and Collie, as well as five in South Africa where we have a AUD$50 million agreement in place,” Bayley further added. 

Green Distillation has developed an emissions-free “proprietary technology” which is capable of recycling end?of?life car and truck tires into saleable commodities of carbon, oil and steel.

The company claims that the oil produced through its technology is comparable with “light crude, which is low in sulphur and easy to refine into petrol, diesel, jet fuel and other petroleum based products.”

GDC also maintains that the carbon produced in the process is a high-grade product with high potential for sale as carbon black.
 
Based in Eight Mile Plains, the MTAQ represents some 15,500 employers in the retail, repair and ser-vice sectors of Queensland’s automotive and mobility industry. 

“This investment exemplifies how seriously we take waste management in our sector and by taking the lead and investing in a global solution for end of life tires,” said MTAQ chief executive Dr Brett Dale.