Tirex, South Carolina firm embark on tire processing pact
Jan 14, 2012 (The Stamford Advocate - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) -- Westport-based Tirex Corp. has entered into a joint venture with a South Carolina business to use its cryogenic tire-recycling technology and is awaiting approval of a finance package.
The company, seeking $7.5 million to bring the machinery from the working model stage to full-scale production, would locate a plant in a 100,000-square-foot facility in Grand Junction, Tenn., near Memphis, which is owned by Wyoming Corporate Headquarters LLC of West Columbia, S.C.
Using Tirex's fracturing process, strands of fiber and steel are separated out from old tires. The tires are then recycled, creating small granules that can be used as a base for artificial-surface playing fields and as an additive to asphalt and in plastics manufacturing.
"It makes a longer-lasting road. It's especially good in the cold markets because it (hybrid asphalt) has a flex to it," said Tirex President John Threshie Jr., commenting that the technology does not create toxic emissions. "There's no waste in our process."
The process, which involves blowing 180-below-zero air into a freezing tower during a 30-minute cycle, is more economically viable than others, such as treating tires with liquid nitrogen, Threshie said.
"We make it so cold the rubber freezes and is like glass," he said.
The agreement will bring Tirex, a penny stock that trades over the counter, from its developmental stage to a commercial entity with revenue-generating operations, he said.
"Since we own 25 percent of the joint venture, revenues to Tirex could be significant in 2012," Threshie said.
JECC, of Quebec, Canada, an engineering construction firm, will fabricate and install the system, estimated at $7.5 million.
"I expect the machinery to be in place this year or early next year," said Brooks Stanton, WCH's CEO. "We have plans of Tirex becoming a household name."
Tirex will have competition in finding customers to use its technology, said Michael Blumenthal, spokesman for the Rubber Manufacturers Association.
"There are already cryogenic businesses in the industry. The real bottleneck is expanding to new markets," Blumenthal said.
___ (c)2012 The Stamford Advocate (Stamford, Conn.) Visit The Stamford Advocate (Stamford, Conn.) at www.stamfordadvocate.com Distributed by MCT Information
Services
Richard Lee
Copyright (C) 2012, The Stamford Advocate, Conn.
-0-
SUBJECT CODE: AD