Titan to set up oil sands reclaim unit

QUINCY, Ill. (June 4, 2014) — Titan International Inc., through its Titan Tire Reclamation Corp. (TTRC) subsidiary, plans to set up a pyrolysis unit in the Canadian oil sands to reclaim rubber, carbon black and steel from OTR tires and conveyor belting.

Titan Tire Reclamation has secured a 10-year lease on 10 acres of land north of Fort McMurray, Alberta, for the unit, which will use a pyrolysis system developed by Green Carbon L.L.C., which is controlled by Fred Taylor, brother of Titan International Chairman and CEO Maurice Taylor Jr.

Titan said it expects to have the system operating by summer 2015 with a capacity to process 100 million pounds of rubber annually. Titan envisions having a second unit operating west of Edmonton “shortly after the initial launch” in Fort McMurray, a town of 60,000 inhabitants about 275 miles north of Edmonton.

The company claimed in 2013 it expects its recycling activities will generate $250 million or more a year in revenue from the sale of reclaimed oil, carbon black and steel. It did not say how much it plans to invest in the start-up.

The Green Carbon system uses 75 percent of gas from tires in a special reactor, Titan said. Each 59.00R63 tire produces approximately 500 gallons of oil, 4,000 pounds of carbon black and 2,000 pounds of steel.

TTRC will target oil companies as the potential customers for the business's bio fuel, which can be refined into bio kerosene, Titan said. The steel is 1075 carbon, which can be reclaimed for the production of tool bits on shovels and bulldozers.

Titan will use the carbon black byproduct in its own tire production, and the company will generate carbon credits as well, although Titan is unable at this time to quantify the amount.

“It is TTRC's plan to move on to new locations as acreage becomes available and new customers commit to the process,” Maurice Taylor said. “The Titan team has been working for three years to prove this process and is pleased this is progressing favorably. It is gratifying to move forward as we feel this system is extremely eco-friendly.”

Titan is also active in the Canadian oil sands supplying giant OTR tires to the mining operations there.

In his 2014 market projections, Mr. Taylor said TTRC will "open up locations in Chile and Australia where there are large amounts of used 63-inch tires to be recycled" after the Canadian plants are up and running.

Titan also recently launched a website, www.lswadvantage.com, to provide information about the company's Low Sidewall (LSW) technology tires and wheels for agriculture, construction and mining equipment. The site includes an overview of LSW technology and its claimed benefits, the history behind the technology's development, product information, details on how to buy from a dealer as well as videos of real-world equipment owners who switched from standard tires to LSW tires, according to Titan.