Mathe Group invests heavily in clean steel extraction from tyres for export markets

RADIAL truck tyre recycler, Mathe Group, has commissioned a multi-million-rand investment in new equipment to extract hundreds of tons of “clean steel” for export to India and South Korea.

- STAFF REPORTER

Mathe Group CEO, Dr Mehran Zarrebini, said on Monday that the clean steel investment, which includes the installation of a new clean steel mill with an automated packaging line and several de-beading machines, will boost the group's earnings.

This initiative is projected to significantly enhance the company’s earnings by tapping into the potential of steel, which constitutes roughly 30% of each radial truck tyre. Previously discarded as a byproduct, this steel is now set to become a valuable second income stream for Mathe Group.

Radial truck tyres are processed by removing the walls which are supported by a steel ring (known as debeading) before being fed through a shredder which downsizes the tyre so that additional steel can be extracted and the remaining rubber turned into rubber crumb.

According to Zarrebini, when tyre recycling started in South Africa, the side walls of the tyres were cut off and sold for use in agriculture.