3 Environmental Facts About Rubber Wheel Stops

If you’re thinking about installing rubber wheel stops in Perth, you may be wondering about the source of the rubber. Many people make efforts to factor environmental concerns into their decision making. This is why it’s important to emphasize that the rubber wheel stops supplied by Image Bollards are made from 100% recycled rubber. Let’s take a closer look at rubber recycling and why it’s so great for our environment.

1. Creating a Sustainable Resource

Let’s face it, rubber is an environmental hazard, this waste only seems to increase over time, and there is a large volume of rubber in circulation at any one time. Items made from rubber are extremely durable; this can make it difficult to handle and store rubber waste. It’s also worth mentioning that rubber is a flammable material and a rubber tyre fire is a serious risk. Up until very recently, there was no technology available to deal with rubber waste, let alone recycle it into something more useful. However, we now have extensive rubber recycling programs that can recycle a wide variety of rubber products and render them into a material that is easy to work with. This will help us to enjoy a glimpse of a future with effective waste management for non-biodegradable materials.

2. Using Old Rubber Tyres to Make New Products

The largest source of rubber for recycling is old worn tyres from sources, such as cars, trucks, off road vehicles and aircraft. The life of these tyres can be extended using a retreading process, but eventually, the tyres will wear, and the tyre must be discarded. These tyres are designated as "End of Life Tyres" (ELTs), and they cannot be used on the road. The sheer volume of ELT is staggering, and up until recently, this was a real problem that had no solution. Landfill sites were filled with a huge volume of ELT that represented a significant safety risk. In fact, in some locations, the volume of ELT even exceeded the capacity of landfill sites, and those tyres had to be stockpiled in other locations. An ELT is not biodegradable item, it will persist over time, and it represents a serious environmental hazard.

3. The Rubber Recycling Process

Before an ELT is processed, it is typically dirty, unwieldy, and hard to use. The rubber must be cleaned thoroughly before the recycling can begin, it’s then cut down into smaller uniform pieces and then fed into a granulator. The smaller rubber pieces are referred to as "crumb rubber," and a single car tyre could generate 4.5-9 kgs of crumb rubber. The crumb rubber is still rough to work with because it will still contain fragments of wire, fabric, and other reinforcing materials. Additional processing is required to remove these impurities and produce 100% pure recycled rubber that’s easy to work with. Different crumb rubber sizes can be created to produce progressively finer grades of rubber.

If you’re considering rubber wheel stops for you location, get in touch with Image Bollards for expert help and advice.