There are billions of tires that end up in landfills every single year, all around the globe. These modern tires are a complex mixture of natural and synthetic rubbers, as well as various other elements like chemical additives and metals, exposing communities to various environmental and health risks. But could there be a way, a sustainable one, to put this tire waste to good use? Well, a power plant in Erzincan, eastern Turkey, chews up thousands of tires and burns them, generating electricity for over 30,000 homes.
Turning tires into energy is one of the prevalent ways of dealing with billions of tires that fill up the landfills around the world, and it has only become more popular in recent decades. Industrial-scale plants are popping up in countries like the US, China, and Canada.
This process is exceptionally valuable in Turkey, importing most of the country’s oil and gas, and contributing about $8 million to Turkey’s economy every year, as stated by ERA Environmental Technologies.
About $3 billion in tires were produced by automakers worldwide last year, and the key ingredient which goes in most of these tires is a synthetic rubber, made from petroleum, which makes tires extremely poisonous for the environment. This pollution from these car tires goes into the waterways in the Pacific Northwest, and according to scientists, it is killing the salmon population. Going down the line, these tires release chemicals into groundwater and air, if left to break down in the landfills.
ERA Environmental Technologies, a tire-fueled power plant in Turkey, recycles about 20,000 tons of tires every single year. “We both contribute to the country’s economy by generating electricity, and we also eliminate the environmental damage of the tire, one of the world’s most dangerous wastes”, says Yusuf Aydin, manager, at ERA Environmental Technologies.
It starts with machines using magnets to thin metal wires inside the tires. Rubber left inside is heated to produce pyrolytic oil. “You obtain oil in closed and oxygen-free environment. There is no gas emitted to the environment during these stages”, says Yusuf.
The extracted oil can then be burned to generate electricity. However, this process is still not a completely environment-friendly process.
Still, these piles of rubber, coated with fuel and fueled with byproducts that otherwise would have gone to landfills and released harmful chemicals for decades, are instead being brought to a noble use by power Turkish homes, while contributing to the economy.
Tazeen Fatma