“Give us rubber” is the motto of KIAS Recycling. In Ohlsdorf (Upper Austria), the company operates the only factory in Austria that disassembles old car and truck wheels into their parts and thus produces raw materials. Lately there have even been deliveries from Switzerland.
On the site in front of the company building, truck tires of all shapes and sizes lie unorganized next to and on car wheels. “All that’s left are tire chips the size of your palm,” says Christian Zirgoi, director of KIAS Recycling in Ohlsdorf since 2020.
At the only old tire recycling plant in Austria, the wheels are shredded, then ground and sieved, carefully separating the individual components: spring steel, textile fibers and rubber, which becomes flour or granules.
These are all materials that can be reused later and find buyers. For example, the rubber is very popular among mat manufacturers or is used in road construction.
The trade in used tires has been anything but smooth lately. Up to 30,000 tons of wheels can be recycled at KIAS every year, but last year the amount processed fell to 15,000 tons. Reason: lack of tires.
Apparently, disposal in Turkey was cheaper
“Of course we wondered where the tires had gone,” says Zirgoi. No clear answer was given, but apparently the old tires were exported to Turkey for cost reasons: “They are burned there.”
Costs for returning tires: 1.50 euros each
Curious: Swiss waste processing companies are now enthusiastic about waste processing in Ohlsdorf. Because burning produces significantly more CO2 emissions, the Traunviertel was chosen, where private individuals also hand in their old tires. A fee of 1.50 euros is charged per piece.
Source: Krone
I’m Ben Stock, a journalist and author at Today Times Live. I specialize in economic news and have been working in the news industry for over five years. My experience spans from local journalism to international business reporting. In my career I’ve had the opportunity to interview some of the world’s leading economists and financial experts, giving me an insight into global trends that is unique among journalists.
