The statements in this article are based on reliable sources and are repeated at the end of this article
On October 8, 1934, China's first completely independent automobile tire was successfully developed in the Greater China Rubber Production Plant. This is also China's first automobile tire production line, which means that China can no longer only import tires from Western countries. [Dog's Head]
But Western countries are not so unacceptable because we can make domestic products, on the contrary, they are also happier and have new money-making models. Because what comes with it is that tires, as a disposable consumable, how to recycle and dispose of them has become a problem that has plagued the mainland for many years.
01
Difficult to digest
The rubber industry itself has to deal with non-superchemical substances, which will cause a certain degree of damage to the human body, so this type of work is also listed as one of the harmful jobs in the mainland.
And because tires need to be durable in terms of size and quality, it's hard to get rid of them, let alone make a profit out of them. Therefore, at that time, waste tires were basically characterized as scrap.
What's more, because rubber contains a lot of harmful substances, even a centralized treatment method is still a huge investment. Not to mention, once this material is treated with fire, it will seriously pollute the surrounding environment. And because it contains harmful substances, it can also endanger the health of surrounding residents.
So no matter how you look at it, it is a headache to dispose of waste tires. The return has not cost much, and it is impossible for private enterprises to research and develop, so at the beginning, Western countries were invited to use the technology in their hands to carry out environmental protection, which also made the mainland have been relatively passive in this regard.
But as long as it is profitable, there will be people who will take risks. Although tires contain more than 200 different chemicals, many of them are also harmful. However, some small private workshops can extract some high-priced substances such as crude oil after the tires are burned.
Therefore, regardless of the possibility of operator poisoning, regardless of the damage to the surrounding environment, and not caring about the harmful gases produced by their own combustion will be transmitted with the air, it refers to doing this kind of illegal thing for their own profit.
And it is precisely because of the profitability that small workshops like this one were once very widespread on the mainland. However, with the continuous improvement of laws and regulations on the mainland, as well as the vigorous investigation of police comrades and relevant personnel, the small black workshops in various places have paid their due price one by one. And the era of the small black workshop, with the continuous increase of investigation efforts, has become a memory of the times.
But even if the small black workshop is eradicated, it is still a very troublesome thing to deal with this old tire. And as a consumable, the replacement rate of old tires is also very large. In fact, the demand for tire replacement for small family cars is very small, but in large trucks, on the one hand, the road is long, and on the other hand, the cargo capacity is huge, which is a very great pressure on tires.
Moreover, this kind of tire is larger and more troublesome to deal with, so the state also attaches great importance to the disposal and reuse of tires.
02
Formation of the industry
In order to solve this problem, the state has adopted a two-step approach at the same time. The first is to encourage private enterprises to establish a mature industrial line by scientific means. At the same time, the Ministry of Science and Technology has also joined forces with a number of universities to jointly provide advice on the disposal of waste tires.
As mentioned earlier, in addition to normal wear and tear, there are many things in the tires that can be reused. It is suitable for chemical decomposition and can be transformed into various oil resources. The steel components can also be extracted and converted into steel wires, and even the gas produced after chemical decomposition can be extracted into liquid gas.
Only if the extraction rate of these materials is large enough to exceed the cost of environmentally friendly disposal of useless waste can the industry become a sustainable commercial industry. And in the process, there was another unexpected discovery on the mainland.
That is, after these waste tires are cracked, some of them can also be converted into carbon black. This discovery instantly solved the previous cost of waste disposal and extracts. Because this kind of carbon black produced by cracking is not only completely environmentally friendly, but also exactly the same as industrial carbon black in terms of practicality.
According to the mainland's annual demand for industrial carbon black, if this environmentally friendly carbon black is used, the annual carbon dioxide emissions can even be reduced by more than 6 million tons. Then the market position of this environmentally friendly carbon black will be established, and a sustainable industrial chain can be formed.
And in order to promote the maturity of this emerging industry, starting from 2022, the Ministry of Finance and the Joint Taxation Bureau jointly issued an announcement, stating that waste tires and pyrolysis products of such rubber products will be listed as within the discount range of tax rebates, and the tax rebate rate is as high as more than 70%, further increasing support for the industry.
If the industry can be improved quickly, it will not only be a real industry project for the local area, but also solve part of the employment problem. And it can further stimulate the local economic development. At the same time, it can also be the call of the corresponding country to make a certain contribution to the country's environmental protection cause.
Therefore, once this industry forms a scale, it is very likely to become a sunrise industry in the mainland in the future. Because the consumption of waste tires is large, these waste tires can be purchased in large quantities at low prices, which also solves potential safety hazards. Once such a formal form of industry is established, it will naturally fundamentally prevent some people from choosing to take risks and use methods that do not comply with the regulations to refine privately.
According to the data provided, for every 60,000 tons of waste tires processed, 24,000 tons of various oil resources and 22,000 tons of carbon black can be extracted. After deducting factory costs and labor costs, according to the current market price, the revenue of such an enterprise is as high as 80 million yuan.
The demand for land for this kind of enterprise allows the government to reuse idle land, and the industry can provide a large number of employment opportunities, attract foreign talents for the local area, stimulate local consumption, and further stabilize the market economy.
At the same time, the problem of handling tires is also a big problem in most countries. For example, Germany and Japan also treat and reuse waste tires. Germany produces artificial turf and rubber runways, while Japan recycles paper, cement and chemicals.
It can be said that each country has a different focus, and the mainland is currently relatively high in terms of revenue from this industry. And the materials of the industrial series are more practical. If this business can expand into overseas markets, the future prospects are simply unimaginable.
Information sources:
[1] Dazhong 2023-08-11 The National Waste Tire (Rubber) Pyrolysis Industry Innovation and Development Forum and the 2023 Annual Meeting of the Pyrolysis Branch of the China Wheel Association were successfully held in Zouping City
[2] Environmental Protection Network 2018-10-29 [Exclusive] China's first waste tire pyrolysis base model was officially put into operation, and the industrial layout of Beautiful China Holdings is gradually getting better - Environmental Protection Network