Zeppelin (Friedrichshafen / Germany; www.zeppelin.com) and its long-standing cooperation partner Pyrolyx (Munich / Germany; www.pyrolyx.com) have started construction of the world's largest tyre recycling facility in Terre Haute, Indiana / USA. This will be Pyrolyx's second production plant for extracting carbon black from end-of-life tyres. Zeppelin's Plastics & Rubber Plants business unit has planned and will construct the plant as well as take care of project management for the EUR 30m investment.

According to a Pyrolyx spokesman, commissioning of the plant is planned for early 2019. Following completion, the plant will produce approximately 12,900 t/y of recovered carbon black (rCB) as well as pyrolysis oil and steel, and have 55 full-time employees. The company says around 4m used tyres will be recycled at the plant, which will save more than 30,000 t of CO₂ compared to virgin carbon black production. Of the expansion, Pyrolyx Group CEO Niels Raeder says, "The increase in its production capacity will uniquely allow Pyrolyx to meet the growing demand for recovered carbon black. Even before construction begins, we have signed long-term purchase contracts for Pyrolyx rCB."

Conditioned recovered carbon black is used for re-integration with virgin carbon black to manufacture new tyres. It is also used in the plastics, technical rubbers and masterbatch industries.