KUALA LUMPUR: Main Market-listed China Automobile Parts Holdings Ltd (CAP) has inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with SRI Elastomers Sdn Bhd to build a production facility for tyre recycling in Xiamen City, Fujian Province, China.
The planned facility will recycle “end of life” tyres and other processed rubber scrap using SRI’s proprietary devulcanisation process and technology into a rubber compound to be utilised in the production of new value-added rubber products.
At the signing ceremony, SRI chief executive officer Gopinath B. Sekhar said the plant was planned for a capacity of 10,000 tonnes per annum initially and could be increased as and when necessary by adding more modules.
“This technology would allow the factory to produce in large batches. The initial investment is estimated at RM3mil,” Gopinath said at a briefing after the signing ceremony.
The details of the business partnership was not yet firmed up but would likely see SRI licensing its product to the joint-venture company with CAP, Gopinath said.
CAP managing director Li Guo Qing said the deal would eventually broaden CAP’s revenue base and also enable it to tap into China’s demand in the recycled rubber industry.
“SRI’s technology is a closed loop recycling process that reuses 100% of the scrap tyre which leaves no wastage of valuable materials, with zero pollution and leaves a low-energy footprint,” Li said.
Gopinath said the company was now applying for patents for the compound.
The process of creating the SRI compound begins with crumb rubber or rubber powder produced by shredding and grinding up scrap tires, its statement says.
The pure comb rubber is then put through the SRI activation process to create a rubber compound, which can be used in a range of products when blended with the manufacturer’s virgin compound.
This process is an alternative to the traditional disposal methods such as burning and dumping tyre and rubber wastes.
