The Green Rubber Opportunity – a sustainable solution for dealing with waste

tyre at mine sites

July 2014

Africa Zanella

Phillip Isaacs

Simon Michaux

Summary

• Current disposal of OTR tyres in operations currently not done efficiently with significant burial and maintenance costs and potential reputation and hazard risks

• Proposals for safe disposal are underway with the establishment of Tyre Stewardship Australia

• Recycling of end of life OTR tyres is proposed as a cost effective solution

• Environmental benefits to mining companies

• Going forward with a scoped logistics and feasibility study for a global solution to waste tyre problems at mine sites

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Eliminating a current mining industry cost associated with environmental compliance transformed into an opportunity

• OTR tyres at the end of their useful life need to be disposed of

• This is an OPEX cost that has been deferred by many operations by stockpiling and burying the end of life tyres

• Domestic sector practice is coming to the attention to legislators

• Perceived changes in regulations will require compliance

• Green Rubber presents an opportunity to transform an OPEX cost and a significant environmental problem into an exploitable resource• Cost neutral, removing a compliance cost

• Potential generation of revenue

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OTR tyres at the end of their useful life

• Represent around 65,000 tonnes of waste annually, of which around 15,000 tonnes annually is produced in the NSW Hunter Region.

• Handled like most waste at the end of its useful life, a cost of disposal is involved and the current tyres given their size and difficulty in handling as well as transport distances are presently costing mining companies considerable annual expense in collection, burial and “environmental protection”.

• Furthermore, waste tyres in all states in Australia have come under a great deal of attention and discussion over several years by all environmental authorities.

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The Green Rubber brand is so classified as a name given to recycled rubber that would be extracted exclusively from the Waste OTR tyres to be found buried in the mining sites across Australia.

The project has developed a “virtuous cycle” of Waste to Valuable Resource using a holistic approach that takes into account collection, recycling and giving back to the mining sector products that would substitute for existing products made out of timber and other natural scarce and expensive materials.

Over time the carbon reduction of the project along with cheaper and longer life products makes this project a unique example for Greener industries and better management of waste that can be utilized using the right technologies available to Green Rubber Pty Ltd globally.

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Green Rubber

Current tyre disposal is becoming an issue

• By their very nature, tyres are difficult to dispose

• Most tyres are put in land fill in some form

• In the Northern hemisphere approx. 18% are burnt as a "replacement fuel" in the manufacture of cement. This is fast becoming the most popular way of disposing of them

• Tyre burning emits ultra-fine particles that have a toxicity all of their own. The toxicity is even stronger if this contains metals such as nickel and tin, which you get when you throw the whole tyre into the furnace. If the metal content of the particles goes up, then there is going to be an increasing impact on human health

• Tyre burning is a very attractive short-term option but causes emissions of sulphur dioxide

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A change in legislation and compliance is coming

While this legislation change will be developed for the domestic sector, this will also impact the industrial sector

The only long term solution

Not sustainable

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Unsustainable practice for the disposal of tyres are forcing review and restructure of regulations for compliance

This will eventually change what is required for compliance by anyone disposing of used tyres

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Conventional tyre life cycle

Manufacture tyre

Use tyreDisposal of

tyre

Steel= 25%

Rubber= 75%

(synthetic rubber derived from

petroleum and natural gas)

Land fill that won’t break

down over time

Non renewable natural

resources

Open ended and unsustainable

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Becoming more expensive due to rise in OPEX

Capacity filling up and increased volume becoming an issue

Proposed tyre life cycle

Manufacture tyre

Use tyre

Recycling of tyre in rubber pellets

Steel= 25%

Rubber= 75%

Much less use ofnon renewable

natural resources

Closed loop and sustainable

Manufacture new rubber products

Much less land fill use

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Virtuous cycle of waste to valuable resource

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The Australia-wide Green Rubber Project provides a proven solution to the logistics, environmental and financial feasibility of fully integrated facilities for recovery, downsizing, transport and recycling of mining industry “off the road” (OTR) tyres

This proposal provides an opportunity to turn an end-of-life product into a valuable and beneficial resource at an initial facility in the NSW Hunter Region followed by facilities in Queensland and Western Australia.

GREEN RUBBER PROJECT – VIRTUOUS CYCLE OF WASTE TO VALUABLE RESOURCE – A SUSTAINABLE SOLUTION – NOTE G4 CHANGE

OPERATING ENTITY

OTR WASTE TYRE

LOGISTICS GROUP

ASSOCIATED

MINING

COMPANY

WASTE TYRE RECOVERY & PRE-CUTTING AT MINE

SITES

TRANSPORT FROM MINES TO

RECYCLING PLANTS

RECYCLING PLANTS

WA, QLD, NSW

MANUFACTURING PLANTS HIGH NET RESOURCE VALUE DOWNSTREAM PRODUCTS FOR THE

MINING INDUSTRY

Reporting on Outcomes under Global Reporting

Initiative

G4 Guidelines

POSSIBLE MINING COMPANIES

BACKLOADS

INITIATORS & CONSULTANTS GREEN RUBBER

PTY LTD

RECYCLED PLASTICS AND

FILLERS SUPPLY

CRUMB RUBBER AND/OR POWDER

WASTE TYRE SUPPLY

Examples of Global State of the Art Mobile Equipment

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Bagel Cutter for up to 55/80/R63 tyres Rotary ShearsOTR Tyre Debeader for up to 55/80/R63 tyres Super Chopper

These units are mobile and can be easily moved around a mine site

Using recycled rubber to manufacture new products

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Replacing old timber railway sleepers with rubber and plastics new sleepers

Using recycled rubber to manufacture new products

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A feasibility study is required to determine the viability of manufacturing new products from recycled rubber pellets

Environmental benefits of recovery and recycling – a sustainable solution for dealing with waste tyres at mine sites

• Turning a waste into a valuable resource

• Eliminating current mining industry costs for collection, burial and maintenance in order to provide sensible “environmental protection”

• Avoiding significant harmful environmental impacts including the fire potential during storage and interaction with the water table when buried

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Carbon footprint

• The weighted average carbon footprint was 124 kilograms of CO2 equivalent per metric ton of materials recycled back into commerce

• The mean carbon footprint in 2007 was 153 +/- 92 kilograms of CO2 equivalent per metric ton of material recycled. Larger tire recycling facilities tended to have lower carbon footprints than smaller tire recycling facilities.

• The use of recycled rubber in moulded products provides a substantial carbon footprint advantage over the use of virgin plastic resins, having between four and 20 times lower carbon footprint

• When used in road surfaces, recycled rubber had between three and seven times lower carbon footprint than asphalt on a materials basis

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Carbon footprint of recycling tyres

• The carbon footprint was dominated by the processing of the tires followed by transport of the used tires to the processing facility

• Electricity was the largest source of the carbon footprint, followed by the use of diesel fuel

• When used in energy recovery, recycled rubber tires provided about a 20 percent carbon footprint advantage over coal, but tires had substantially more carbon emissions than other fossil fuels

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The upstream carbon footprint for the production of asphalt is 840 kg CO2 per metric ton. In comparison, the carbon footprint for recycling tires is 124 kg CO2 per metric ton. This reuse of rubber tires in roads is clearly highly favourable from a climate change perspective.

The Green Rubber opportunity

• The Green Rubber Project will bring financial benefits to the mining companies not just in substitution of the raw material but also in the safety and longer life-cycle performance of the Green Rubber products and the virtuous cycle of reducing and working towards a zero waste in this area for the mining companies and the producers of OTR tyres across the world.

• The current acknowledged practice of burying waste OTR tyres at mine sites is costly and in some circumstances creates serious environmental impacts from chemical emissions, insects and fires.

• Establishing a new practice of well organized collection and downsizing of the tyres on mine sites and in stages also collecting tyres from existing stockpiles will deliver direct cost and organizational benefits. The new practice will comply with mine site occupational health and safety requirements and individual mine site access requirements, all prior to commencement and thereafter.

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Opportunity to improve relations with government and communities

• The carbon footprint of the Green Rubber Project is less than 1% of the initial embodied energy of the new tyres, which is a compelling case for the need to ensure that the mining companies work closely with the tyre producers, the recycling industry and Green Rubber Pty Ltd to arrive at an environmentally and socially acceptable solution for the disposal of the waste and its conversion into Green Rubber.

• The opportunity for mining companies to participate in the usage of downstream products on mine sites can be utilized in Reporting under the Global Reporting Initiative G4 Guidelines with clear environmental and community benefits declared to improve the image of the mining companies.

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Opportunity to improve relations with government and communities

• Tyre Stewardship Australia has implemented a new Levy to be charged on all tyres around Australia to pay for research and ongoing costs of implementation

• The formation of Tyre Stewardship Australia and the participation in it by the Minerals Council of Australia is a real opportunity for individual mining companies to show leadership and to reap the benefits of research funding as well as reduction in operational costs and increase in sustainability of operations

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Formation of Tyre Stewardship Australia

• Tyre Stewardship Australia has recently been formed as the basis for a future viable tyre recycling industry for both passenger, truck and OTR tyres. Mining companies in Australia currently bury around $1.5 billion in initial value of new tyres which simply becomes “waste”.

• Green Rubber Pty Ltd has had extensive participation in the formation of Tyre Stewardship Australia and is registered with it as Project Managers and Consultants to the mining industry, recyclers and downstream products manufacturers. Work for Mining Companies will take account of any impacts from the activities of Tyre Stewardship Australia.

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Meeting NSW Government Strategies for Sustainability Advantage

STRATEGY

• Legislation and policy drivers

• Technology & infrastructure changes and challenges

• Market development for recycled products

• Research to support recycling

RESPONSE

• Landfill disposal banned in NSW and resource recovery encouraged (Tyre Stewardship Australia is functioning as a voluntary scheme)

• Proven process for downsizing tyres

• Moving to maximize high net resource value products

• Energy efficient plant now available

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Meeting NSW Government Strategies for Sustainability Advantage

STRATEGY

• Reducing waste generation

• Community support & expectations

• Product stewardship and producer responsibility

RESPONSE

• Mining companies are achieving extended life of the OTR tyres

• A Green Rubber Project working with DECC and HEDC (Newcastle)

• EPHC developing these and Green Rubber Project in close dialogue

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Development targets for a feasibility study

• The number of tyres estimated in historical stockpiles and the rate at which they can be recycled off operations real time – accessible stockpiles only and not buried tyres.

• The value of crumb rubber and/or powder currently and projected

• Technical viability of recycling OTR tyres and development of a viable process flow chart

• Estimation of the profile of proposed operation vs. existing practice• pollution footprint

• carbon footprint

• Optimisation of logistical operation

• Development of business model and its stages of evolution

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Development targets for a feasibility study

• More appropriate exploitation of contained fossil fuels (oil & gas) in each tyre

• while the oil extraction to produce tyre derived fuel is not working as well as hoped, this could be important if the price of oil goes up

• The range of products that could be made from the rubber (show a spectrum of manufactured products)

• Perceived value and market share footprint of those manufactured products

• The potential for those products to overturn existing products due to shorter supply chain logistics (made in Australia as opposed to overseas)

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Steps going forwardStep 1 –

• Determination of Mining Companies current and projected situation regarding its waste OTR tyres including annual throughput, tyre types, site locations, stockpile data and accessibility, OH&S and environmental conditions that apply at the mine sites and indicative costs of collection, burial and maintenance applying at these mine sites.

Step 2 –

• Review of Green Rubber Project Stage 1 Report to determine applicability of data and strategies to current Mining Companies situation determined in Step 1. Note that the Stage 1 Report covers extensive research and study of an industry-wide approach to end of life tyre strategies

Step 3 –

• Determine in consultation with Mining Companies the most appropriate scale of a first Project and its mine site location(s). This would involve consideration of the extent of new equipment and facilities and the suitability of existing recycling and downstream products manufacturing facilities to speed up the Project.

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Steps going forwardStep 4 –

• Prepare a detailed design and feasibility study for the agreed Project.

Step 5 –• Determine in consultation with Mining Companies the benefits of proceeding with

more extensive Projects.

Step 6 –• Prepare all necessary designs, specifications, Development Applications, tendering and

contract documents leading to formal agreements for building and infrastructure works and all plant and equipment.

Step 7 –• Provide complete Project Management and Supervision services to oversee the

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Conclusions

• This is an OPEX cost that has been deferred by many operations by stockpiling the end of life tyres

• Domestic sector practice is coming to the attention of legislators

• Perceived changes in regulations will require compliance

• Recycling is the only sustainable option going forward, its just a question of when

• Green Rubber presents an opportunity to transform an OPEX cost and a significant environmental problem into an exploitable resource

• The reuse of rubber products from used tires has the potential to make a substantial contribution to reducing carbon emissions

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Thankyou for your time

Africa Zanella M.Comm africa.zanella@gmail.com

Phillip Isaacs OAM BE FIEAust FRSA phillip.isaacs@greenrubber.com.au

Simon Michaux Bach App Sc. PhD simonpetermichaux@gmail.com

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