Scots tyre recycling technology franchise deal with Spanish

A FLEDGLING Scottish biotechnology company has sold a franchise on its unique method for recycling tyres to a Spanish firm, and is planning to open its own facility in Grangemouth.

Recyclatech Group was set up in 2006 after researchers at Napier University in Edinburgh found a way of devulcanising rubber using bacteria, opening the way for car tyres to be fully recycled.

Since then, the company has been formulating plans to launch a pilot plant to produce enough recycled rubber to supply samples to companies interested in using it.

Chairman John Pool said the firm was close to raising the 1 million it needs to build the Scottish plant, which would be capable of producing about 1,000 tonnes of recycled rubber a year.

Recyclatech announced yesterday that it had signed a franchise agreement with Biotyre.

The Spanish firm is already active in the area of rubber reclamation and is also planning to build a pilot plant, in Spain, this year, at an estimated cost of 500,000, with a view to establishing a full-scale commercial operation.

Recyclatech will provide Biotyre with technological and scientific support, deriving its income from licence fees and royalty sales, and has taken a stake in the Spanish firm as part of the deal.

Pool said Recyclatech would also supply the bacteria used in the process.

He declined to put a value on yesterday's agreement, but said: "We will do very well out of it, and our shareholders will do very well out of it."

Under the terms of the deal, which covers 14 countries, Biotyre will negotiate non-exclusive sub-licences for the use of Recyclatech's intellectual property. It initially aims to focus on Spain, Mexico and Brazil. Pool said a second franchise was being negotiated with another company to take the technology to Asia and the Middle East.

Recyclatech's technology, pioneered by company founder, Professor Nick Christofi, uses bacteria to remove the sulphur added during vulcanisation from ground-up old tyres, known as "tyre crumb", turning it back into reusable rubber.

The process is not unlike brewing, taking place in fermentation tanks held at 26C and therefore requiring only a modest energy input.

The resulting product can be used to make tyres and moulded products which currently require new rubber, for around half the cost of the new material.

Although patented, the bacteria used are naturally occurring and not genetically modified, the release of the microbial biomass is not a threat to the environment, and the sulphur residue can also be re-used, twhe company says.

Pool said: "With thousands of used tyres ending up in landfill every year, our emerging technology is key to reducing the environmental impact this causes.

"The agreement with Biotyre is the first milestone in creating a solution to this global issue and a major step forward for Recyclatech.We are confident of our prospects."