The Motor Traders Association of Queensland (MTAQ) has become an investor in Australian tyre recycler, Green Distillation Technologies Corporation (GDTC), which has discovered a process that turns end-of-life tyres into high value oil, carbon and steel.
MTAQ Group ceo Dr Brett Dale says that the investment in such an innovative enterprise is part of an exciting journey for the organisation and a reflection of the ongoing concern of the members for the disposal of end-of-life tyres, which had resulted into research and consideration of several technologies.
“This investment exemplifies how seriously we take waste management in our sector and by taking the lead and investing in a global solution for end of life tyres, is a responsible move as an industry leader and a very exciting investment opportunity,” says Dale.
The MTAQ board says the investment satisfied the Association’s diversification strategy and provides a technological solution to the waste liability of 24 million old tyres in Australia yearly.
It notes that tyre technology is one of the stable commodities and waste and recycling must be addressed and there is a need for the industry to take a leadership position on reducing the landfill and export demand.
The board also recognised GDTC has a contract in place with an Australian oil refiner to purchase all the oil produced by the plants in Australia and from a steel manufacturer to blend the carbon with other carbon to lower the price of this vital material.
GDTC coo Trevor Bayley says that as part of their three month long due diligence, the MTAQ Directors and Executive visited the site of the first GDTC processing facility at Warren in Western, New South Wales to see for themselves how the technology works.
“We are in the process of a major fund raising exercise to raise $30 million to fund the completion of Warren to a fully operational unit, build a tyre recycling plant in Toowoomba, Queensland, as well as undertake the preliminary work on the first plant in the United States where a $US100 million agreement is in place to build ten plants, provided the first conforms to design specifications.
“Our expansion plans then are for five more plants in Australia in Gladstone, Wagga, Geelong, Elisabeth and Collie, as well as five in South Africa where we have a $50 million agreement in place,” says Bayley.
“Our Technical Director Denis Randall, who invented our process, has long advocated that ‘Resource Recovery’ is the key to successful recycling and we are pleased that an organisation such as the MTAQ shares our belief.
“What we have achieved so far is a world breakthrough and we believe that in time our technology will eventually become the preferred means of recycling tyres throughout the world,” says Bayley.
