In a scrap tire recycling plant in Shandong, China, orderly automated production lines, real-time fluctuating process parameters, and a steady stream of pyrolysis oil, recovered carbon black, and steel wire bring the facility to life. This is the scrap tire pyrolysis resource comprehensive utilization project operated by Niutech—a chemical recycling benchmark that transforms “scrap tires” into “green energy and industrial raw materials.”
Tires are composed of complex components such as natural rubber, synthetic rubber, carbon black, and steel wire, with a highly cross-linked molecular structure that is extremely difficult to degrade naturally. The mission of the tire pyrolysis system is to complete a “molecular-level dismantling” within this sealed device—known as a “continuous pyrolysis reactor“—through precisely controlled processes, thereby maximizing the value of tire recycling operations.
In an oxygen-free environment, Niutech’s pyrolysis system precisely heats materials to a specific temperature, causing the rubber polymer chains to break in an orderly manner. Unlike incineration, carbon elements during tire pyrolysis are not converted into carbon dioxide but are retained in products such as oil and carbon black—this is the essence of “chemical recycling.”
The actual production capacity of most pyrolysis equipment globally is generally below design specifications. Niutech’s self-developed continuous pyrolysis system, equipped with automatic continuous feeding and discharging devices and integrating eight core technologies such as thermal dispersion, gas-tight sealing, and anti-polymerization, achieves a pyrolysis rate exceeding 99%, enabling long-cycle stable operation at a processing scale of tens of thousands of tons and full-load operation at designed capacity.
The system’s PLC/DCS automated intelligent control system performs real-time collection, display, calculation, and automatic correction of nearly 20,000 process parameters. Operators can monitor the operating status of each production line without entering the workshop—a concrete manifestation of the word “green”: the entire pyrolysis process is completed within sealed equipment and pipelines, with dust and VOCs effectively contained and treated, generating no secondary pollution.
The pyrolysis system is not merely a “decomposition machine” but a miniature resource factory. After a scrap steel-belted tire is shredded and enters the pyrolysis system, it is completely dismantled into four types of products: tire-derived oil, recovered carbon black, steel wire, and a small amount of combustible gas. The combustible gas is returned to the furnace for heating, achieving system energy self-sufficiency; the steel wire is recovered and can enter the smelting process; the recovered oil has a high calorific value, completing the value transformation “from tire to fuel” and can also be refined to produce gasoline, diesel, or chemical feedstocks. After activation treatment, recovered carbon black can replace 20%–30% of virgin carbon black in tires and rubber products, with a carbon footprint nearly 80% lower than virgin carbon black, meeting the growing ESG procurement needs of tire manufacturers.
The project is operated by a subsidiary of Niutech and is a leading domestic demonstration project specializing in scrap tire collection, pyrolysis treatment, and resource recycling, with a planned annual comprehensive utilization capacity of 160,000 tons of scrap tires. The first phase has completed acceptance and been put into operation, truly achieving long-cycle, safe, stable, and continuous industrial operation. The second-phase expansion adopts Niutech’s new-generation large-capacity industrial continuous intelligent pyrolysis equipment, featuring core advantages such as significantly increased single-unit processing capacity, notably reduced overall operating costs, and shortened investment payback period, marking the transition of the pyrolysis system from “capable of operating” to “high-efficiency.”
The project addresses not only the “treatment” issue but also the “value” issue. It has obtained ISCC certification, allowing recovered oil to directly access international high-end markets; through technological innovation, pyrolysis carbon black continues to be upgraded toward standardization and high value, entering the new tire production chain.
The Shandong project fully demonstrates all the elements of scrap tire chemical recycling as a green recycling solution: compliant recycling channels, zero-secondary-pollution sealed pyrolysis, high-value product utilization, significant carbon reduction benefits, and a sustainable business model of “technology R&D + equipment manufacturing + large-scale operation.” This not only proves the feasibility of the industrial pathway for tire pyrolysis resource comprehensive utilization but also creates a replicable development model for the entire industry.
Niutech’s pyrolysis equipment has been exported to dozens of countries and regions, including Germany, the United Kingdom, Denmark, Brazil, and Hungary: the Hungary project has been recognized as an EU demonstration project, and the Brazil project has been operating stably for many years. These projects jointly confirm that scrap tire chemical recycling centered on pyrolysis is the most replicable green recycling solution for global “black pollution” control.