An Overview of Rubber Recycling

Abstract

Since the discovery of vulcanisation, rubber has become an indispensable material for the technological development of civilisation, starting from a simple balloon to complex rocket propellant. Rubber Industry worldwide is using on an average 50% of raw materials. These materials are mostly petroleum-based, except natural rubber (NR), steel cord and bead wire. Use of these petroleum-based raw materials not only depletes natural resources, but also produces more extreme environmental hazards. Escalation of petroleum prices, greater awareness of the environment has resulted in different recycling and environmental friendly technologies. Furthermore, the new concept of ‘Cradle to Grave’ has created a significant concern to the manufacturer about present use of petroleum-based raw materials in the rubber industry worldwide. For both environmental and economic reasons, there is also a continuing broad-based interest in the recycling of scrap rubber and rubber recycled materials and therefore in the development of recycling technologies.