Genan - Knowledge-based recycling concepts

Our statement:

"True recycling requires processing at a level where the output substitutes virgin materials.

Consequently this leads to avoided production and a profound saving of resources."

Our vision:

All scrap tyres in the world must be recycled in the environmentally and economically most beneficial way.

Proven technology with more than 20 years of experience

At the end of the '70s, the idea of establishing a plant for the recycling of scrap tyres was born. The automotive industry was booming, and the waste problem with very slowly degrading scrap tyres in landfills and nature started to be addressed.

During the '80s, the idea was further developed; and in 1990, the first plant for recycling of scrap tyres became a reality in Viborg, Denmark. Through the '90s, the plant was continually improved and adjusted accordingly. The input capacity of the Danish plant was 35,000 tonnes of mixed scrap tyres (passenger car, van, truck, tractor and big earth moving tyres). By 2011, the capacity has been doubled to 70,000 tonnes of tyre input.

In 2003, on the basis of the knowledge and experiences gained from the Danish plant, Genan opened a larger (input capacity 65,000 tonnes a year) recycling plant in Oranienburg on the outskirts of Berlin, Germany.

5 years later, in 2008, a plant with a similar capacity opened in Dorsten, NRW, Germany.

The Genan plant strategy in Germany was completed in 2010, when another 70,000 tonne plant started operation in Kammlach, Bavaria. 

Most recently, Genan has expanded its operations with its first plant in the USA, the world's largest of its kind, in Houston, Texas, USA. 

More than 20 years of experience:

High quality rubber, steel and textile made from high quality original raw materials

The Genan scrap tyre recycling concept is unique. In a highly technological process, developed and optimized through practical experience over more than 20 years, all kinds of scrap tyres, may it be from passenger cars, vans, trucks, tractors or large earth moving machines, are separated into the original elements: rubber, steel and textile. 

The technology is completely automated. No human hand touches the tyres from start to end, and this ensures a consistent and high quality of the output. Other suppliers of recycled rubber are found in the marketplace, but none are able to produce a uniform, clean and consistent product like Genan.

A new tyre must be of very high quality. It must be resistant to bumps and high as well as low temperatures. For the driver this is simply a matter of life and death and the tyre manufacturers are very well aware of this. Therefore they are only using the very best raw materials in the production of new tyres. And when these materials are recycled using the Genan technology, high quality still remains.

The output from a Genan plant consists of 67% rubber powder and granulate, 18% steel, 14% textile and 1% waste, which primarily stems from impurities like sand and stones absorbed by the scrap tyres. 
99% of the output is therefore recycled for good use in new applications which are able to substitute virgin materials.

The rubber is used in numerous applications, currently the most important being modification of asphalt and bitumen, infill in artificial turf and industrial rubber applications.

The steel is remelted in large steel works. The textile has so far been incinerated for energy recovery but is currently going through a comprehensive product development which will lead to final products within the noise and heat insulation industry.