Michelin to receive first batch of Pyrowave recycled styrene for sustainable tires

MONTREAL, Canada—Canadian recycling startup Pyrowave Inc. has shipped its first batch of recycled styrene, derived from polystyrene waste, to Michelin for the production of environmentally friendly tires.

Pyrowave, in a Nov. 17 news release, said its technology had successfully passed Michelin's quality tests with 99.8-percent pure recycled styrene monomer produced from polystyrene waste.

The recycled monomer, it said, can now be integrated into industrial elastomer batches.

For the first time, the finished product will incorporate "fully traceable and segregated recycled styrene, where all the styrene will be physically present in the product rather than a credit-based content," the Canadian company said.

Pyrowave said a container with 3 metric tons of recycled styrene had left Montreal for an undisclosed Michelin plant in France.

"Following years of testing, Michelin will be in a position to manufacture batches of industrial styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR) products with Pyrowave recycled styrene," it said.

The amount, according to Pyrowave, would represent over 1,000 passenger car tires.

"This achievement confirms once and for all that we can implement a 100-percent traceable and controlled supply chain in polystyrene recycling," CEO Jocelyn Doucet said.

"Products can now be made entirely from recycled material, without dilution or degradation," he added.

Pyrowave has developed a microwave technology to return waste polystyrene plastics to their original form, that is styrene monomers.

The recovered styrene, according to Pyrowave, is "identical to virgin material" but with a 45-percent reduced carbon footprint.

Michelin and Pyrowave have been collaborating since 2020 to accelerate time-to-market for the Montreal-based company's waste recovery technology.

In a joint development agreement in November 2020, the two sides aimed to certify and commercially roll out the technology in global markets, with ultimately an investment of over $20 million.

Combining Pyrowaves platform with Michelin's knowhow, the collaboration aims to develop an industrial demonstrator, funded and operated by Michelin, by 2023.