RTI Cryogenics IncCambridge, Ontario, Canada

RTI Cryogenics Inc. has the technology to produce a 100% recycled thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) pellet from recycled cryo crumb rubber and recycled post-industrial and post-consumer plastic.

This pellet is called XyCom^TM TPE and it is sold under a 10 year take or pay, global Off Take Agreement.

Our Vision

Our vision is to become the world leader in Value Added Tire Recycling by installing at least 15 of RTI's turnkey patent pending XyComTM TPE plants worldwide in the next 3 years.

By doing this we will have a significant positive impact on the environment because we will be diverting scrap tires from being burnt or from being buried. We will be recycling much more plastic.

Value Added Solutions

RTI's Primary cryogenic crumb rubber is used in coloured mulch, paving stones, synthetic sports fields and rubber asphalt. Cryo crumb rubber commands a premium price in the marketplace compared to ambient tire crumb. RTI's cryogenic Fine Mesh rubber tire crumb is used in XyComTM TPE Blending to make the only 100% recycled thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) pellet without any additives

Primary Tire Recycling

RTI’s first turnkey solution is a Primary cryogenic tire recycling system, which can be a standalone tire recycling system.

An RTI Primary system produces 99.9% pure rubber crumb up to 30- mesh.

The whole tire is shredded and then granulated to approximately 1/2″ size. The shred is conveyed to a 53 ft. long Freeze Chamber where it is pre-cooled as it enters from an air lock on the front end and conveyed to the back end. At the back end, liquid nitrogen is applied to the shred which freezes the rubber shred past its glass transition temperature of approximately -80° C . The frozen rubber shred is then pulverized in our Hammer Mills which have a very high hammer tip speed.

Fine Mesh

The second value added technology is cryogenic Fine Mesh which uses plus 30 mesh rubber crumb from either an integrated RTI Primary system or it can be integrated and added on to a primary ambient system.

A Fine Mesh cryogenic system uses the same concepts and technology as a Primary cryogenic system but does not have a shredder and granulator because it is processing only the crumb rubber produced in a primary system, which if it is from a cryo system is already 99.9% steel & fibre free.

The Fine Mesh system processes the rubber crumb input through a freezing chamber and one size reduction unit.

The input capacity to this system is 6,000 lbs. (2,725 kgs) per hour. If processing cryo crumb rubber as the input then the output would also be 6,000 lbs. per hour.

If processing ambient crumb rubber as input then the output would be less per hour because the Fine Mesh system will have to remove the wire from the ambient crumb input.

All components of the Fine Mesh solution are manufactured by third party contractors according to RTI drawings and specifications. RTI receives, ships, assembles and installs these components at the customer’s facility and then trains managers and operators and commissions the system to provide a complete turnkey solution.

The 60- to 80- mesh output of the Fine Mesh is sent directly to a XyComTM TPE system when the Fine Mesh is part of an integrated XyComTM TPE Blending Plant. This plant requires three XyComTM TPE Blending Lines to utilize the capacity of the Fine Mesh.

Some customers buy the Fine Mesh system to produce 60 – to 80- mesh crumb for the tire industry where it is used in new tire tread. There is a strong and growing market for rubber crumb in the 80- mesh or smaller mesh sizes.