US Recycler to make rubber powders

ERJ staff report (R&PN)

Port St Lucie, Florida -- Florida Tire Recycling Inc. has created a subsidiary to provide customers with fine-mesh rubber powders through a “closed-loop” recycling program for as little as 30 cents per pound.

The key to the FTR Polymetrics unit is the company's proprietary “cry-ambient,” or hybrid, recycled rubber grinding system, according to company COO Anthony Cialone, Florida Tire Recycling chief operating officer. The new system allows customers to dictate exactly the size and characteristics of the rubber particles they want, he said.

The “cry-ambient” method combines the smaller particle sizes and smoother surfaces of cryogenic grinding with the larger surfaces of ambient grinding, and FTR Polymetrics customers can choose between an enormous number of variations, he said.

Florida Tire Recycling introduced its closed-loop recycling program early in 2009. The company takes its customers' scrap, grinds it and returns it as fine-mesh powder which substitutes for petroleum-based materials in a number of applications. Combining the closed-loop system with its proprietary grinding techniques allows FTR Polymetrics to provide ultra-fine powders at the lowest prices achievable, making rubber powders financially viable against virgin petroleum products, the company said.

Prices for FTR Polymetrics' powders range from 30 cents per pound for 80 mesh and 40 cents for 140 mesh, the company said.

Florida Tire Recycling processes more than 6 million tyres annually.

From Rubber & Plastics News (A Crain publication)