Photo shows part of the Osborne Tire Reef in Florida, the United States, which is an environmental disaster.
LITTLE Nemo was going about looking for food among the various species of sea anemones — swimming around in search of his favourites — zooplankton, algae and undigested foods — from the host anemones.
Suddenly, there was a movement in the water, caused by something, round and black, with a hole in the centre, falling onto the seabed.
Nemo swam closer and saw more of the round black things settling on the seabed. Their undulating movements, caused by the buoyancy of the saline sea water, scattered the sand in swirl, sending air bubbles to the surface.
Once the sand had settled, Nemo swam closer to inspect the round black things, and was overwhelmed by a powerful stench he had never experienced before.
Months came and went, most of these round black things were still there — some got swept elsewhere by strong undercurrents while some stuck to the corals.
A year had passed, the corals, smothered by the round black round things, died a slow death. The growth of the marine invertebrates became stunted and parts broke off when they became wedged between the numerous coral branches. Some of the sea anemones were starving because Nemo no longer came to feed them.
The black round things that fell to the seafloor were, in fact, old used tyres, unloaded in the 70s in the US, to create artificial reefs to attract a rich variety of marine life and free up landfills. But this did not materialise and instead became an ecological blunder.
The piles of submerged tyres were then removed from their watery graves by the US government at great expense, but it did not change the fact that the environment had suffered due to the mistake.
The important lesson here is old tyres and marine life do not gel.
The reality is that people do not know what to do with used tyres and sometimes, they are dumped into the river or sea — intentionally or otherwise.
Improperly discarded tyres pose a health hazard as they pollute the environment and become breeding grounds for mosquitoes and home to pests and snakes.
Sarawakians are luckier than the Americans in that the state government has sustainable development and conservation of the environment as its core principles.
It embarks on an initiative to provide a holistic and environmentally friendly system to manage used tyre waste via a Private Public Partnership (PPP) set up through the signing of an agreement in 2011 between the state government and ZHA Environmental Sdn Bhd.
The state government’s Natural Resources and Environment Board (NREB) was tasked with the role of regulatory, supervisory and licensing authority for this project, and in 2011, under the partnership, ZHA was appointed and licensed to collect and recycle used tyres in the state.
A magnet is used to separate steel from tyre crumbs.
ZHA — the licensed collector
ZHA is now the licensed contractor for collecting and recycling used tyres throughout Sarawak. Priority areas are Kuching, Miri, Sibu and Bintulu.
Eight ha have been alienated in the Matang Integrated Waste Management Zone for the Used Tyres Waste Management Facility in Kuching.
“ZHA is the pioneer in Sarawak to collect used tyres for recycling. Since 1998, it has been collecting tyres in Kuching area before starting recycling operations in Kota Samarahan in the mid-2000s. The used tyres are collected from various sources such as tyre workshops,” said ZHA general manager Bernard Yong.
“When the tyres are delivered to the plant, they are weighed first, using a computerised data management system. The plant gets between 1,000 and 2,000 tyres each day. The public cannot fathom the sheer number of used tyres being discarded on a daily basis. A typical household may have two cars — meaning eight tyres. Overall, these add up to more than 1,000 used tyres a day in the state.”
The tyres collected are separated into two piles — car tyres and truck tyres.
Yong said the plant adopts the most viable and proven ambient size reduction technology to recycle all kinds of used tyres into three main constituents — rubber, steel and fibre.
This ambient temperature technology (no high heat involved, thus there’s no emission of toxic gasses or risk of explosions) works on the principle of mechanical size reduction, separation and segregation of rubber crumbs from contaminants of steel wires and fibres within the tyres.
The state-of-the-art facility has won numerous awards and certifications, among them the Sixth Chief Minister’s Environmental Award (CMEA) 2014, the ISO 9001:2008 certification and the Green Project certification (awarded by the Energy, Green Technology and Water Ministry).
The rubber crumbs produced by ZHA are sold locally and exported to Peninsular Malaysia and countries such as Thailand, Indonesia, Australia, the Philippines and Singapore.
The plant does not keep huge stockpiles of used tyres as they are immediately processed. This prevents the stockpiles becoming home to pests and snakes or breeding grounds for dengue-causing Aedes mosquitoes. Fogging is conducted from time to time.
The stockpiling area has a trench round it filled with water in case of fire. It prevents the fire spreading to the plant. Safety precautions are also taken such as keeping fire extinguishers close by and having five fire hydrants at different locations inside the facility.
Lorries carrying used tyres are weighed at right at the ZHA facility.
Firefighting systems
ZHA also has its own dedicated firefighting water tank and pump system to ensure adequate water and pressure in the event of fire.
“As one of Sarawak’s largest recyclers, we have the resources and know-how to conserve the environment and make it happen through recycling of waste tyres. Our teams work with the equipment suppliers to customise the recycling facilities for recycling all kinds of waste tyres into three types of recycled materials — rubber, steel and fibre.
“In 2012, ZHA successfully commissioned its 10,000 MT (annual capacity) recycling facilities at the Integrated Waste Management Zone, along
Matang-Batu Kawa Road in Kuching. The new recycling facilities are also incorporated with green features to build a sustainable future for our next generations.
“Many people, especially in Sarawak, do not know what happens to discarded tyres or whether it’s even possible to recycle them. In fact, they may even be using products made from recycled tyres unknowingly,” Yong said.
Among items made from recycled tyres are car floor mats, brake pads, rubberised playgrounds, running tracks and rubber tiles for holding artificial turf on football fields. One of the latest items made from rubber crumbs are ballistic blocks used at shooting ranges.
Yong added that using artificial turf for football fields is ideal as the fields could be used all year round without the need to rest them to let the grass grow on the bald patches.
The three main components — rubber, steel and fibre — extracted from used tyres.
Coming full circle
Visitors to the plant can see a special tree near the office building. It is made of discarded old tyres with a metal trunk and a cup to mimic a rubber tree and set atop a rubberised floor. They can also visit the gallery showcasing products made of rubber crumbs such as a rubber sheep and a 10 foot tall cat statue.
“I don’t think they even know how tyres came about. It started with one man’s wish to give his son a more comfortable ride on his tricycle. Scottish inventor — John Dunlop — developed the first practical pneumatic (air-filled) tyre and attached it to his son’s tricycle.
“That was in 1887. The humble tyre has come a long way and is used for vehicles, ranging from bicycles, delivery trucks to 16-wheelers. Tyres play an integral part in our lives,” he noted.
Yong said over the years, there have been many developments to improve the performance of the tyre, adding that the modern tyre is designed to be tough enough to withstand extreme weather but such characteristics are actually an environmental problem once the tyres are discarded since they do not biodegrade due to their high durability.
“With the number of vehicles growing rapidly, used tyres are now one of the largest and most problematic wastes in our country. Without a proper disposal system, used tyres will continue to be dumped indiscriminately.”
He urged those who come across tyres piled up by the roadside or behind buildings to contact ZHA’s hotline — 013-8834565.
Yong pointed out it is illegal to dispose of tyres through unlicensed collectors.
“The penalty can be a RM30,000 fine or a jail sentence up to one year, or both, under the Natural Resources and Environment (Collection and Disposal of Used Tyres) Rules, 2012.
“The law applies to vehicle owners, tyre traders, individuals, companies or any other persons having control or possession of any used tyres.”
Yong said the legal way to dispose of tyres in Sarawak is to surrender them to a collector licensed by the state government — and to contact ZHA to arrange for the tyres to be picked up.
“Once ZHA has collected the tyres, fill in the official collection form and request for a copy. Keep the copy for inspection purposes,” he added.
Facility visits can be arranged for organisations and students, preferably in groups. To register, contact 082-287 599 or email [email protected].
A lamb statue made from rubber crumbs.
Recycling old tyres
Step 1
Debeading The tyres are debeaded after being washed with water to remove impurities like sand, stones and mud.
Step 2
Shredding A shredder is used to reduce the entire used tyre into100 to 200mm tyre shreds.
Step 3
Granulating After the shredder has cut the tyres into 100 to 200mm shred forms, they continue through a granulator to reduce the shreds to 5-12mm crumbs. The main materials, which predominantly consist of rubber, steel and fibres, are separated through a series of magnets, sieves and separators.
Step 4
Powdering Depending on the applications, crumbs from Step 3 can be further processed into rubber powder of different mesh sizes (20 to 40 mesh) using a series of fine crushers or pulverisers.
Step 5
Quality Control ZHA quality assurance system focuses on particle-size analysis, metal and fibre impurity measurements in accordance with ASTM D5603 standard, using the in-house testing facilities.