A tire shredder is not a waste disposal machine; it is a manufacturing plant. The defining specification of your shredder (Output Size, Cut Quality, Steel Separation) determines which market you can sell to.

Related equipment: rubber tire shredder.

1. Tire Derived Fuel (TDF)

• Market: Cement Kilns, Pulp & Paper Mills, Utility Boilers.
• Spec: 50mm – 80mm Chips. Steel wire remains embedded (kilns melt it).
• Machine: Primary Twin-Shaft Shredder.
• Economics: Lowest CapEx ($), High Volume, Low Margin.
• Critical Quality: Clean Cut. “Fuzzy” chips with exposed wire protruding cause handling issues in the kiln feed systems.

2. Tire Derived Aggregate (TDA)

• Market: Civil Engineering (Road embankments, Light Rail vibration damping, Septic fields).
• Spec: 100mm – 300mm Rough Shreds.
• Machine: Rough Shredder (Primary).
• Economics: Local market driven. High bulk density reduces transport cost.

3. Crumb Rubber Modifier (CRM)

• Market: Rubberized Asphalt (RAC), Sports Turf, Molded Products.
• Spec: <1mm Powder. 99.9% Wire Free. 99.9% Fiber Free.
• Machine: Primary Shredder -> Secondary Grater -> Granulator -> Milling.
• Economics: Highest CapEx ($$$$), Highest Margin.
• Separation:
  1. Overband Magnet: Removes 90% of steel chunks.
  2. Drum Magnet: Removes 9% of fine wire.
  3. Air Gravity Table: Removes nylon fiber/fluff.

4. Recovered Carbon Black (rCB)

The frontier of tire recycling.
* Process: Pyrolysis (heating chips in an oxygen-free reactor).
* Feedstock: Requires 20mm Wire-Free Chips.
* Challenge: Any steel wire entering the reactor will clog the char discharge screw.
* Solution: 3-Stage Shredding with extreme magnetic separation.

Summary: Matching Machine to Market

References

[1] “Tire Recycling Markets” (scrap tire end-use data), U.S. Tire Manufacturers Association. Tire Recycling Markets
[2] “Civil Engineering Applications of Scrap Tires,” ASTM D6270. Civil Engineering Applications of Scrap Tires