Recycled Tire Logs – Treated Lumber is SOOO Last Century!
Filed Under: green automotive technology, Green Technology on June 27, 2009
A company called Re-Tread Products (RTP) is testing a series of recycled rubber tire products designed to replace pressure treated lumber in many applications. There are some huge benefits to this trade-off, not the least of which is giving another location to put some of the millions of scrap tires piling up aroun the world.
Depending on the lumber treatment type, most treated lumber uses noxious chemicals that are pretty toxic when leaching into the ground over time. While treated lumber, such as railroad ties, telephone poles, etc. are usually buried as much as they’re above ground, many other uses go virtually unnoticed.
Heavy equipment platforms, logging roads, hurricane building construction, highway separation, boat ramps, and even flood control barriers all use treated lumber more often than not. Everyone of those (and many more) could benefit from using lumber replacements made from recycled tires.
First of all, the recycled tire logs and lumber are definitely more weatherproof and longer-lasting. Recycled tires don’t rot, leach into the ground, or crack under vibration like wood does. Plus they have more flexibility and can literally be constructed into fitted pieces for individual jobsite needs.
Another application being considered is a replacement of roadway barriers like the rails over bridges and around curves. The rubber, being more flexible, would deflect more energy as well as absorb and distribute it better on impact. It could be less prone to giving way (breaking) as well.
As an aside, some companies are toying with mixing rubber into the cement mixtures used to make sound barriers on highways through residential areas, taking advantage of the superior sound absorbing and reflection that rubber offers.
To make treated lumber replacements out of the used tires, the process is simple: cut off the sidewalls, remove the treads, and wind tightly into “rolls” shaped like a log. These are riveted through to hold them together and can be cut to any desired length. That’s it.
The sidewalls are not used in the log construction, being the tire’s weakest link, but these are prized by other recyclers who shred them and ad them to a lot of things you commonly see. Including the tar used to make roads, soundwall barriers, and a host of other applications.
They’re experimenting with reinforcing the rubber logs with fiberglass, steel, and other things to make them more rigid for structural use.
Overall, this is a pretty great idea. RTP is working on the red tape of government requirements to get these tire logs certified for various uses and out into the field.
