Michelin Chile chief outlines timetable for mine tire recycling plant

Tire manufacturer Michelin plans to start building a recycling plant in Chile by year-end and surpass government-mandated minimum processing targets, BNamericas was told.

The 30,000t/y facility, geared specifically to large mine vehicle tires, will be the first targeting this type of product built by the French multinational.

With initial investment of at least US$30mn, the plant will employ pyrolysis technology developed by Swedish company Enviro and could eventually be duplicated in other mining countries.   

“We estimate we’ll be able to start construction of the plant by the end of the year and that the plant will be able to start producing by the start of 2023,” Michelin Chile CEO Guillermo Crevatin told BNamericas.

In Chile, miners and their suppliers are looking ahead to 2023, when the country will start implementing a recycling law.

By 2030, under current environmental rules, 90% of all tires except bicycle and solid tires – and 100% of mine vehicle tires that fit wheel rims measuring 45in or bigger – must be recycled. The rules are outlined in a January supreme decree that followed the approval of waste management law 20,920, which places new responsibilities on producers or importers of products, establishing tires, batteries and lubricating oil, among others, as priority segments.

The onus will be on tire providers to collect and process used ones, an obligation that will generate logistical costs, which would be partly linked to the location of tire dumps and distance to recycling centers. José Browne, CEO of Chile’s tire industry chamber, has said that providers would, at least initially, build the cost of collecting and processing used tires into tire prices. 

While other countries have tire-recycling rules, Chile is the first to specifically encompass large mine tires in legislation.

Crevatin told BNamericas the aim of Michelin – amid a wider focus on supporting the circular economy – was to exceed the minimum quotas established by law in Chile. These are based on the quantity of tires each manufacturer or importer introduced into the market the preceding year.

“Everything must be sustainable,” said Crevatin, adding that Chile’s focus on developing the circular economy was among the reasons that Michelin chose to build the plant in the country.  

A key focus of the tire industry will be on logistics – as only certain vehicles can transport large mine tires – and this presents opportunities.

“Logically, opportunities exist, above all in terms of efficiency,” said Crevatin. He said that mine supply vehicles, for example, could collect used stock after delivering products to mine sites.

In the off-the-road tire segment, last year Chile imported 10,345, or 42,709t of large mine, or class B, tires, according to data from Chile's tire industry chamber. In terms of smaller tires, a market segment that has many more supply-side players, 15,884, or 7,088t, were imported.

The pyrolysis process recovers carbon black, oil, steel and gas. Carbon black – if the right quality is obtained – can be employed in the manufacturing of new tires and the likes of conveyor belts, while gas produced can be used to power the facility itself. 

Crevatin said Michelin was in discussions with potential offtakers of products from the recycling process.

“We’re engaged in talks; it’s a key point of the project,” Crevatin said.

Chilean miners currently sit on a mountain of more than 400,000t of used tires and are producing around 27,000t a year. The bulk are sitting in the country's mining-heavy Antofagasta region.

Crevatin said an associated objective was to work with other stakeholders to help start chipping away at this stockpile.