Efficient recycling of waste rubber
At this year K fair in Düsseldorf, Evonik will be presenting VESTENAMER®. The process additive allows waste rubber to be efficiently processed into a tough material used again in a variety of applications such as road construction, sports or playgrounds.
Every year, a waste volume of some 19.3 million metric tons of scrap tires is generated worldwide – including over 3.6 million metric tons in Europe alone. 20 years ago, over half of all scrap tires were incinerated to generate energy in Germany alone, while only every tenth scrap tire was processed into granulate. By now, the volume of the latter has caught up with energy-related processing. With VESTENAMER®, Evonik helps close the materials cycle for rubber –sustainably.
In the recycling of waste rubber, the addition of VESTENAMER® is an application that has already proven its worth in the production from useful waste of rubber articles such as floor coverings, mats, and stand systems for signposting of road works and barriers.
With VESTENAMER®, Evonik helps close the materials cycle for rubber—sustainably.
More efficiency in rubber recycling
“As a process additive VESTENAMER® improves the flowability of the rubber compound, as a result of which the material can be processed much more efficiently. The reactivity and polymer structure of VESTENAMER® are also important here: Both lead to a good network density between the rubber particles. This in turn positively impacts the mechanical properties,” says Dr. Peter Hannen, market development manager for VESTENAMER®. “In short, Evonik’s process additive improves both the cost effectiveness of processing and the quality of the rubber parts when rubber is recycled.”
In addition to the economic aspect of providing a cost-efficient raw material, the material recycling of scrap tires is also becoming more important from the ecological viewpoint. For example, the use of scrap tire granulate in new products contributes significantly toward reducing the carbon footprint by up to one third as compared with products that do not use a recycled material. And the closed circular economy of rubber also alleviates the global scrap-tire problem.
VESTENAMER® has been used as a process additive from Evonik in the rubber industry for many years. Manufactured in the Marl Chemical Park (Germany), the polyoctenamer solves a number of different challenges in the compounding and processing of rubber; It is also used as an aid in the recycling of waste rubber.