SCHWALBE FETCHES 20,000 USED TIRES FROM FREISINGER KELLER
BICYCLE DEALER INGO RUHLAND HAS BEEN COLLECTING TIRES FOR THE ENVIRONMENT FOR OVER 23 YEARS
For 23 years, Ingo Ruhland collected used tires in the basement of his bike shop of the same name in Freising. Always hoping that at some point they can be recycled instead of incinerated. Now the time had come and around 20,000 tires could be fed into the Schwalbe Recycling System
Ruhland: “I always hoped that some company in the tire industry would one day be able to offer real recycling. That worked now – a big thank you to Schwalbe.”
Many hours of hard work awaited Ruhland and his team of five. The tires had to be carried out of a former beer cellar and then stacked in a truck container. Lots of buttered pretzels were needed for refreshment.
When Ruhland found out about the official presentation of Schwalbe's tire recycling in the summer of 2022, there was great joy: "I was overjoyed because that was exactly the information I had been waiting for - for a total of 23 years." Ruhland is a committed cyclist, he sees the sustainable approach as a prime example. “The tires are not rubbish, they are recyclables. In all areas, we should do more to recycle such material instead of just always mining new raw materials.”
Now the basement is empty, or as Ruhland says: "It's finally tidied up." Used tires that will be produced at Radl Ruhland in the future now end up in the recycling box of the Schwalbe Recycling System and are picked up regularly.
Tire recycling as an ecological milestone
Schwalbe is the first manufacturer of bicycle tires in the world to take responsibility and take back and recycle used bicycle tires - used tires are thereby turned into new ones. And without any waste. Until now, used tires have been incinerated, the raw materials have been lost and climate-damaging CO2 has been emitted. Together with its project partners Pyrum Innovations and the Technical University of Cologne (TH Köln), Schwalbe has reached an ecological milestone with holistic tire recycling. The recycling process saves 80% CO2 emissions.
Schwalbe started in the pilot phase in January 2022 with around 50 dealers, by the end of November the number was already more than 1,300. And there are more every day.
This is how the Schwalbe Recycling System works
1) Sale of used tires at participating dealers
2) Transport of full recycling boxes to recycling partner Pyrum Innovations
3) Crushing of used tires into: - rubber granulate - steel - fabric
4) Pyrum thermolysis: Rubber granules are converted into secondary raw materials (in a pyrolysis oven at 700°C with the exclusion of oxygen) - Process gas: Supplies the entire system with electricity - Pyrolysis oil: Serves in the chemical industry as a substitute for crude oil - Pyrolysis coke (rCB) --> go to 5 )
5) Return to new Schwalbe products
Further information
Schwalbe UK LTD
Press Office
Hortonwood 30 | Shropshire TF1 7ET Telford
Phone: +441952602680 | press@schwalbe.com
www.schwalbe.com/en