India-born scientist Professor Veena Sahajwalla, Director, Centre for Sustainable Materials Research and Technology at University of New South Wales (UNSW) Australia, has invented Polymer Injection Technology that converts waste rubber tyres to metal alloys that make ‘Green Steel’
Every year, over one billion tyres are manufactured worldwide, and equal numbers of tyres are permanently removed from vehicles, becoming waste.
The U.S. is the largest producer of waste tyres, about 290 million a year, although increases in new vehicles sales in China and India are rapidly contributing to waste tyre volumes.
India’s waste tyres account for about 6-7% of the global total. With the local tyre industry growing at 12% per annum, waste volumes are rising.
India has been recycling and reusing waste tyres for four decades, although it is estimated that 60% are disposed of through illegal dumping.
Turing Tyre into Green Steel
Professor Sahajwalla has developed a Polymer Injection Technology (PIT) also known as ‘green steel’. The environmentally friendly technology uses waste rubber tyres to reduce consumption of coal and coke in steelmaking.
This technology is used commercially used by Australian steel makers and managing to reduce coke and coking coal consumption by upto 15%.
Professor Sahajwalla mentions that, it is ideal for application in India as it is incorporated into conventional EAF steelmaking, so it does not require expensive new industrial infrastructure or any large scale new equipment.
From inputs from The Hindu