Billions of discarded tires occupy landfills and stockpiles. ARS scientists have found a way to recycle and reuse these old tires by extracting the pulverized rubber and polyester/nylon mixture and dividing it into two separate materials. The polyester/nylon fiber is called fluff, and the rubber material is called crumb. Companies typically cut the tires into smaller pieces. The rubber and polyester/nylon fiber are then pulverized. The companies recover over 50 percent of the rubber, but the remainder is sent to landfills. The recovered rubber is valued at about $500 per ton. With ARS’s method, based on cotton ginning technology companies could recover the fiber for newly developing markets. A company that places 12 tons per day in a landfill could potentially turn that into an additional $5,700 a day. Products such as new tires, truck bed liners, running tracks, shoes, carpet backing, brake pads and shoes, asphalt, water hoses, and floor mats can be made from the recycled rubber. This technology will benefit our environment by reducing the number of tires in landfills.

Tire manufacturing and recycling facilities could use this technology. Also companies that develop manufacturing equipment, particularly cotton ginning equipment, could use this invention.

Please refer to USPN 6,536,690 (Docket #0090.00), "A Method for Separating Elastomeric Particulates from Fibers," which issued on March 25, 2003, and USPN 6,325,215 (Docket #0035.97), "An Improved Method and Apparatus for Separating Elastomeric Particulates and Fibers from a Pulverized Mixture," which issued on December 4, 2001.

Foreign rights are not available.

William S. Anthony
Cotton Ginning Research
Stoneville, MS 38776
(662) 686-3094 / Fax: (662) 686-5483
santhony@ars.usda.gov