Tyres
Massachusetts-based Sierra Resins has announced its new development - an injection-mouldable thermoplastic containing tyre rubber.
Christened Z-Resin, the company has claimed the material could address significant environmental issues.
Ground Tyre Rubber (GTR) is used in asphalt paving, synthetic mulch and various types of athletic field surface top dressing, amongst other applications. Without the recyclers who process used tyres into GTR, billions of tyres would be packed into landfills on an annual basis.
Sierra Resins CEO John Tersigni said: "The whole idea behind Z-Resin development was straight forward: to determine applications for various GTR percentages and mesh sizes when we loaded GTR with a polyolefin resin and a binder during Masterbatch compound creation.
"For example, the type of question we asked ourselves was, what’s the right GTR particle size and percentage when combined with a polyolefin to create a compound for protective athletic gear to improve impact resistance and possibly reduce risk of injury? The market opportunity drove the product research and development, versus the other way around. We’re exploring different ventures with tyre recyclers as not just suppliers, but also as business development partners. The plan now is concept testing and commercialisation."
Furthermore, Sierra Resins is evaluating its bio-concentrate bio-Lene 14 into the injection-mouldable Z-Resin compound. The company is also set to conduct recycling testing on injection-moulded Z-Resin components consisting of micronised tyre rubber particles with olefin resins at various load rates and compounding variables to determine the recyclability of Z-Resin.