New retread recycling plant planned for Hammarsdale
It is expected to double output and create at least 10 new jobs.
TYRE retreading is big business in South Africa and Mathe Group, one of South Africa’s largest used radial truck tyre recycling operations, will be cashing in on this with a multi-million-Rand investment in a new line to recycle waste rubber from the retreading process.
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According to Dr Mehran Zarrebini, CEO of British investment group PFE International, because most goods travel by road rather than by rail, South Africa is one of the largest tyre recyclers in the world. Local retreaders process as many tyres per day as some of the largest operations in the United States.
An estimated 1,1 million new truck tyres are sold in South Africa each year. At the end of its useful life, 80 per cent of a tyre can still be used provided the casing is not damaged. Because local transporters rely on retreaded tyres to reduce their CPKs (running cost per kilometre), most of these tyres are retreaded up to three times.
Each retreaded tyre generates between seven and 10 kilograms of buffing, making this a significant source of raw material for Mathe Group’s ever hungry Hammarsdale recycling plant.
During 2018, the operation doubled production and the factory currently recycles approximately 150 000 used radial truck tyres per annum.
“We have a full manufacturing programme and, because we currently sell all the crumb that we produce, we have been under significant pressure to increase capacity. Our primary focus is on sustainability and developing products manufactured from recycled materials. This latest investment is in line with that and also provides us with an opportunity to diversify further and create additional revenue streams,” Dr Zarrebini explained.
The new plant, which was sourced in China and delivered this month (June), will be commissioned in July. It is expected to double output and create at least 10 new jobs. Zarrebini believes employment numbers will grow with output and uptake of the resulting new product.
Dr Zarrebini said that Mathe Group will source rubber retread waste nationally. However, although up to 60 percent of tyre retreading takes place in Gauteng and just 15 to 20 percent in KwaZulu-Natal, it will initially try to maximise sourcing product from its home province in order to minimise the company’s environmental footprint.
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