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<\/p>\nBarco LLC (Barco), the British American Rubber Company, is a specialist rubber compounder and recycler, and is leading the way in the development of a revolutionary concept that could transform the sustainability and circularity of the rubber industry.<\/p>\n
The business began life in early 2016, with President and Co-Owner, Mike Cash, collating a group of investors with a passion for his business venture. Construction began on a 66,000-square-foot facility in 2016, with the new building and equipment installation complete by early 2017.<\/p>\n
The company is headed up by co-owners Mike Cash and Ian Malpass, who join us to discuss the company\u2019s evolution, the process of pyrolysis, and plans for the future. \u201cWhen Ian and I started the business back in 2016, we had 20 associates running a single shift,\u201d Mike begins. \u201cToday, we\u2019re running a 24\/7 operation, with the recent additions of another mixer for black compounds, a smaller unit for non-black mixing, and extended calendering capabilities.\u201d<\/p>\n
Since its foundation, Barco\u2019s facility has been extended four times; a 10,000-square-foot extension to the finished goods warehouse came first, followed by an additional 38,000-square-foot to the raw material warehouse, and another 58,000-square-foot building and the installation of a 4-roll invested \u2018L\u2019 Calender and then another 10,000-square-foot addition for finished goods.<\/p>\n
Currently totaling 182,000 square feet, Barco\u2019s ever-expanding manufacturing facility is testament to the company\u2019s tremendous growth trajectory. The site allows mixing capabilities of the following polymers: natural rubber, SBR, PBD, NBR, XNBR, EPDM, Neoprene (CR), and polyisoprene (IR). Its capability of using various grades of carbon black is supported by tanks for smaller volume oils, as well as 10,000-gallon and 20,000-gallon oil tanks for large volumes, both of which are located inside the facility to reduce the possibility of oil reaching the ground.<\/p>\n
\u201cCompounding is where we started and it\u2019s still what we do on a day-to-day basis,\u201d Ian explains. \u201cWe make millions of pounds of rubber every month for our clients, who are typically manufacturers of everything from flooring fork truck tires to conveyor belts and truck components. The process of compounding requires a great degree of accuracy and knowledge, which Mike and his team have built over the last five years.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can then modify the formula to customize the product to suit the client\u2019s requirements,\u201d he continues. \u201cIf a customer needs a stronger, more flexible, or heat resistant product, for example, we can easily cater to their needs.\u201d<\/p>\n
With expertise in the process of pyrolysis, our conversation with Ian naturally turns to the benefits of such a revolutionary concept. \u201cOur biggest development to date is the pyrolysis process,\u201d says Ian. \u201cLet me take you back to the motivation behind this: with consumer demands for recycling and circularity constantly increasing, we established a recycling operation in Holland. A huge amount of waste associated with the rubber industry is typically sent to landfill or incinerated, the latter of which was historically considered better for the environment, but burning rubber is actually three times worse than burning natural gas.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere will always be waste rubber, but there are very little uses for it regardless of whether it is cured or uncured. In the US, for example, 330 million tires are allegedly thrown away every year. Up until recently, most of these went to landfill, but people are now finding other effective uses, such as children\u2019s playgrounds or even fuel for cement works.<\/p>\n
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\u201cWhile our recycling plant enabled us to take back product from US customers and end-users in Holland and reuse it in our manufacturing process, it wasn\u2019t enough for us. Instead, we wanted an alternative long-term solution, sparking our research into the ways in which we could more effectively utilize waste rubber.<\/p>\n
\u201cThen, we came across pyrolysis,\u201d he states. \u201cTo put it simply, it is the process of heating something up to a very high temperature in the absence of oxygen. Without oxygen, the material cannot burn and instead degrades. If you take rubber, for example, , heating it up to around 500-to-600 degrees centigrade in the absence of oxygen, it will break down into its base components of oil and carbon black.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are three components to rubber: oil, carbon black, and polymer. During pyrolysis, the polymer and the oil become gases, while the carbon black reverts to its original form, meaning all three elements can then be condensed back into our products. We can\u2019t yet take all our waste through the process, but we can bring around 75 percent of everything we manufacture through pyrolysis and reengineer it back into an existing product.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile pyrolysis has been around for some time now, few companies are operating the process. In fact, you have to travel all over the world to find people with the relevant experience. I\u2019ve personally visited two installations in Europe, two in Turkey, two in China, and three in India, but every plant carried out the process slightly differently.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe technology behind pyrolysis is slightly different depending on whether the waste rubber is cured or uncured, the latter of which is much more complicated. We\u2019re currently developing methodology to be able to reprocess uncured rubber, removing the carbon black and oil through pyrolysis.\u201d<\/p>\n
With no established consensus on how to optimize pyrolysis, Barco has invested in a test reactor to bring the technology to fruition. \u201cWe\u2019re hoping to be processing upwards of 1000-to-2000 tons of rubber every month in our Georgia facility by the middle of 2024, and we\u2019ve invested in a test reactor to explore every possible theory with the goal of establishing the optimum methodology,\u201d Ian reveals.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re processing all sorts of different catalysts with varying temperatures and using different additives to find the very best way of separating the particles while keeping the performance of such particles intact,\u201d he adds. \u201cOnce it\u2019s successfully established, we\u2019ll multiply these pyrolysis sites across the US to widen the reach of the technology and combat the industry\u2019s problem of waste.\u201d<\/p>\n
Looking to the future, Mike reveals Barco\u2019s imminent plans. \u201cAs a custom mixer of rubber compounds, continuous improvement is key, so we\u2019re always on the lookout for ways to improve our efficiency,\u201d he concludes. \u201cWe\u2019ve recently invested $10 million in a new mixing line and several other pieces of equipment including a dust collector to keep the plant clean and enhance our efficiency. We are also in the early stages of adding a recycling facility next door to our existing mixing plant, in another investment of over $10 million.\u201d<\/p>\n