100% recovery and RECYCLing of construction vehicle crAwler TRACKs into constituent rubber and steel for sustainable raw material supply

Project Information

Recyclatrack

Grant agreement ID: 719038

DOI

10.3030/719038

Project closed

EC signature date 17 February 2016

Start date 1 March 2016

End date 31 May 2016

Funded under

• SOCIETAL CHALLENGES - Climate action, Environment, Resource Efficiency and Raw Materials

Total cost

€ 71 429,00

EU contribution

€ 50 000,00

Coordinated by

Aquablast Ltd
United Kingdom

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - Recyclatrack (100% recovery and RECYCLing of construction vehicle crAwler TRACKs into constituent rubber andsteel for sustainable raw material supply)

Reporting period: 2016-03-01 to 2016-05-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

“Recyclatrack”© is a patent-protected, process using low volumes of water to recover valuable steel and rubber granulate from end-of-life vehicle crawler tracks and achieve 100% recycling of a waste stream for which, until now, there has been no practical or sustainable solution.

Improved manufacturing technology for steel/rubber composite crawler tracks has developed greatly promoting a steep increase in civil , military and agricultural applications. By 2020, without a practical solution such as “Recyclatrack”© millions of tracks could be abandoned.

Enquirers from throughout Europe and the USA seek a solution to the same disposal problem found in UK which led to the development of the process. Extremely high pressure waterjets separate the rubber from the steel. The water used is also recycled. UK National Recycling Awards voted “Recyclatrack”© their “Innovation of the Year”.

The objective is now to construct a commercially attractive version of the process with all identified improvements. The process is readily scaleable and at least 20 countries have been identified which would support a commercial track recycling centre. A marketing and business plan has been completed.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

Work completed under Phase 1 shows that regulatory pressure and landfill closures severely limit options for track disposal. This has confirmed the urgent need for an environmentally attractive recycling process.

Extensive work has been completed examining the demographics of waste tracks worldwide by contact with over 100 track distributors, manufacturers, end users and waste processors. Research into the recovered products – scrap steel and particularly the rubber powders – has confirmed demand for rubber powders as fillers in rubber manufacturing processes. The process produces clean, high quality rubber powder which does not require any post-processing.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

Between now and 2020 the rise in crawler track usage will result in an estimated 12m tonnes of high-grade steel and 5m tonnes of re-processable rubber being lost to the community if a process like “Recyclatrack”© is not rolled out. Left as a composite rubber/steel assembly, tracks will be stock-piled, abandoned, buried or incinerated.

In addition, the process has revealed considerable potential for the development of a viable de-vulcanisation process for the produced rubber crumb and applying the techniques learned to the disposal of large mining and earth-moving tyres.

Recyclatrack Images