EDINBURGH, Scotland (Feb. 16, 2011)—Recyclatech Group—a spin off from Edinburgh's Napier University—has developed a micro-organism it claims can selectively eat the sulphur atoms out of a vulcanized rubber soup.
The company said it is planning its own project in Scotland and has sold a license to a Spanish company Biotyre, which intends to set up an $892,700 pilot plant in Spain with a full-scale plant to come eventually.
The license covers 14 countries, and Recyclatech said Biotyre is expected to negotiate non-exclusive sub-licenses for the use of Recyclatech's intellectual property. It initially aims to focus on Spain, Mexico and Brazil.
A second franchise was being negotiated with another company to take the technology to Asia and the Middle East.
The process takes place at around 26 degrees C in a soup made up of tire crumb and the specialized bacteria.