Australia's tyre recycling company finishes upgrading processing facility

A green technology company called Green Distillation Technologies previously completed $8 million upgrade to their processing facility that recycles old tyres into carbon, oil and steel. The recycling plant is in full production mode and is located in Warren, Western New South Wales.

This Australian company is an unlisted public company and has found it easier to raise capital from overseas due to current political climate promoting green technology and investors' fascination towards it. The company is planning to build its second facility in regional Tasmania at a cost of $8.5 million.

GDT company's recycling process is unique in a way that it converts old tyres back into carbon, oil and steel without producing harmful emissions. The recycling process converts the tyres to 40 per cent carbon, 35 per cent oil and 15 per cent steel by weight and when the Warren plant is commissioned, GDT will sell the final products for the first time. In Australia, 24 million old tyres see end of their life and most of them are burned, burried or dumped.

GDT chief executive Craig Dunn says most attempts at tyre recycling involve reshaping the rubber with a small percentage crumbled into synthetic grass. "No one else has done anything like this anywhere in the world," Dunn said. "Australia has a terrible record for dealing with tyres. Most of them were previously landfill or exported for use in brick or cement kilns where they're burnt raw in poorer countries like Malaysia and China," he added. Burning tyres is an environmental hazard since it emits huge amount of toxic fumes.

GDT also wants to build recycling plant in Starwell but this is on hold for now due to pending funding from investors. However, the Tasmania plant is coming up in Longford, where there is a pile of 1.3 million tyres. This plant will be operational from next year and employ around 9-12 people. This plant will have a capacity to recycle 19,000 tonnes of tyres annually.