Cleanly Recycled Tyres – A World Technology First

Media Release: Completion of first tyre recycling plant in Warren is a priority for GDT

June 18th, 2019

Bringing their first tyre recycling plant at Warren, New South Wales up to full production is a priority for Green Distillation Technologies following the recent awarding of Environmental Permission by the New South Wales authorities.

GDT Chief Operating Officer Trevor Bayley said that they have always believed that once they had all the Government permissions in place it was then down to business, build the remainder of Warren plant to full design capacity and process tyres.

“By way of explanation, our plant design is for six tyre processing modules and during the interim while we were negotiating for expansion at Warren we have completed one module as a test facility and our next step is the immediate building of modules two and three.

“We already have the bits and pieces to build these two modules while we raise capital to build the other three and achieve the capacity to process approximately 700,000 old tyres per year into eight million litres of oil, 7700 tonnes of carbon black and 2000 tonnes of steel, which represents approximately 4% of the end-of-life tyres that are generated in Australia each year.

“We see the permission as the reward for over 4 years of persistent effort to correct something that should have never happened as we were ‘collateral damage’ when the regulations were changed in 2015 and the use of the word “energy” was one of the problems as in the context of the new regulation it was taken to mean ‘electricity’,” he said.

Trevor Bayley agreed that they certainly turn waste tyres into energy, but the energy they produce is packaged differently.

“Our energy production comes in the form of oil and carbon which are both commodities very high in energy content and since there are no facilities using Tyre Derived Fuel (TDF) in NSW, then GDT was the only tyre recycler to be impacted.

“Being a new regulation the NSW EPA had to let it run its course and to their credit, the personnel within the EPA have always given us the impression that they were doing their best to accommodate us but they had other priorities and our small voice was not getting through. The potential for a higher judicial authority to be called upon to make a judgement on the issue brought them back to the table in a more constructive frame of mind and the licence was finally able to be granted.

“Our tyre recycling process is pioneering technology and Warren is the first of 7 plants planned for Australia as well countless more around the world.

“Already we have environmental permission from the Queensland Government and Development Approval from the Toowoomba Regional Council for a plant in their area and we have enquiries from several other regional centres of significant tyre collection importance,” he said.

“But in many respects Warren as the first one is the most important, because not only does it demonstrate the effectiveness of the technology at the commercial level and further promotes all its environmental credentials, it removes risk for the investor and establishes markets for the products.

“The most significant benefit of the Environmental Protection Licence for a small start-up business like GDT trying to build a presence in what is now a competitive tyre recycling marketplace, is that of removal of risk, as this allows the entry of a cornerstone investor and the subsequent funding to roll out the second plant”, he said.

Trevor Bayley agreed that Warren seemed to be an unlikely location for a tyre recycling plant as it is a small rural town dependent on the agriculture industry and subsequently there is little opportunity for local full time employment other than with the council and industries that support the farming community.

“Even a small employer like GDT is welcome and the people of Warren have embraced GDT with open arms since our Technical Director Denis Randall started his first experiments in 2004.

Trevor Bayley agreed that although Warren may seem like an out of the way place, it is strategically well located as it is on the Oxley Highway, North West of Dubbo, which is the main truck transport route between Melbourne and Brisbane and is located on a rail link with trains transporting cotton, wheat and wool to the major cities and a backload of old tyres is welcome revenue. The plant occupies approximately 4 hectares of the 21 hectare site leaving space for expansion and other projects, synergistic industries and tyre storage within the limits imposed by NSW Environment Protection Authority.

“This NSW Environmental Protection Licence means we can finally do what we set out to do in the region, provide employment and a boost to the local economy.

“As the first of its kind in the world the GDT Warren plant has already attracted a large number of visitors, both national and international and this flow is set to grow.

“We have also contributed to the diversity of the population with workers from Iran, Sri Lanka, South America and other parts of Australia coming for short periods of time. We now have a full time senior employee from Bangladesh who, with his wife and young son, are making Warren their home, including becoming the backbone of the local cricket team,” Trevor Bayley added. Released for Green Distillation Technologies by Dennis Rutzou Public Relations (www.drpr.com.au)

Correction

May 31st, 2019

It has been drawn to our attention that in our media release of 27 May we inadvertently stated that the New South Wales Environment Licence, which was issued to Green Distillation Technologies, was under a new regulation.

This was incorrect as it was actually issued under the existing regulation.

We apologise for this error and the purpose of this correction is to put the record straight for the future.

Craig Dunn, Chief Operating Officer, Green Distillation Technologies

Media Release: Tyre recycler receives environmental approval in New South Wales and development approval in Queensland

May 27th, 2019

Tyre recycler Green Distillation Technologies, which has developed world-first technology that transforms old tyres into oil, carbon and steel, has received environmental approval for their Warren, New South Wales plant and building development approval for their proposed Toowoomba plant.

GDT’s Chief Operating Officer Trevor Bayley said that the New South Wales Environment Licence was issued under a new regulation that recognized the uniqueness of their process, while the Toowoomba Development Approval came from the Toowoomba Regional Council and included all the other Government approvals needed to move ahead and build the plant.

“After that, the final hurdle we face is the Queensland Government resource recovery grant that we have applied for to help us fund the $10 million construction bill and when that comes through we could start preparatory work on the site within two months of the announcement.

“That plant will employ 14 to 18 people full time, as well as local contractors during the construction phase and create further jobs in the transport associated with collection of old tyres from retailers and other outlets.

Trevor Bayley said that the oil they obtain from recycling old tyres will go to the newly built Northern Oil refinery at Gladstone, North Queensland where it is the vital raw material in the Queensland Government plans to create an environmental fuels hub. 

“The oil is regarded by Northern Oil as ‘light crude’ that is low in sulphur and easy to refine into petrol, diesel or jet fuel and GDT has a firm contract from them to take all the oil we produce anywhere in Australia and this also applies to oil from our plant in Warren, Western New South Wales.

“With our Warren facility we have applied to the local council for a permit to expand the tonnage of tyres we can process at the site to 25,000 tonnes and we are confident that the request will be granted soon as we have enjoyed an excellent co-operative relationship with the Warren Shire Council since we established our first tentative test laboratory in the area ten years ago.

“In the case of our Toowoomba facility we see that we can play a key role in their plans to develop the area as a major road and rail transport hub as recycling the old truck tyres will be a vital component of this,” Trevor Bayley said.  

The tyre recycling plant will be built at the Wellcamp Business Park, near Toowoomba Airport and when completed will process approximately 700,000 old tyres per year into eight million litres of oil, 7700 tonnes of carbon black and 2000 tonnes of steel.

GDT plans to eventually establish 7 processing plants in Australia to handle the 25 million old car and truck tyres we discard each year and the potential for export of the technology is limitless and they are currently responding to enquiries to establish plants in the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, Middle East, Africa, Pakistan, Russia and New Zealand.

Released for Green Distillation Technologies by Dennis Rutzou Public Relations (www.drpr.com.au)

For further information please call or Dennis Rutzou on 0411 510 888.