3.4 MILLION TONS OF END-OF-LIFE TIRES ANNUALLY in Europe REQUIRE A SOLUTION.
OURS IS CALLED THERMOLYSIS.
Pyrum stands for industrial raw material recovery from end-of-life tires. Using thermolysis technology, valuable components such as oil, carbon black, and gas are recovered and made usable again for industrial applications. Instead of incinerating or exporting valuable materials, Pyrum creates new raw material cycles. In this way, the company combines recycling, technology development, and sustainability with the goal of transforming waste streams into system-critical resources for industry.
The Technology
WE CANNOT REINVENT THE WHEEL.
BUT WE CAN REINVENT HOW TO RECYCLE IT.
With our patented technology, we transform rubber and plastic waste into system-critical raw materials for industry. The special feature is the patented Pyrum vertical reactor: in it, rubber granulate is heated in a controlled manner in the absence of oxygen and thermally decomposed without combustion.
Learn about our process in detail:
Delivery and Shredding
The used tires are delivered in large quantities to the main site in Dillingen, where they are stored and sorted for further processing. This is followed by mechanical shredding, in which the input material is shredded and the rubber granulate is separated from steel and textile.
Secondary raw material in four grain sizes
(1-6mm)
FIBER AND STEEL SEPARATION
Depending on the tire type, up to 100 kg of textile fibers and 150-250 kg of steel wire are filtered out of 1 tonne of used tires. Through post-treatment of the steel wire, Pyrum achieves a purity of over 95 percent.
The resulting rubber granulate is further processed
THERMOLYSIS
The process takes place in a closed, airtight system. What makes it special is the patented Pyrum vertical reactor: inside it, the rubber granulate is heated under controlled conditions and thermally broken down in the absence of oxygen. The granulate moves through the upright reactor by gravity, while temperature and process conditions can be precisely controlled to guarantee a consistently high quality of the resulting raw materials.
The process produces oil, coke and gas, from which valuable secondary raw materials can be generated and fed back into industrial cycles.
RECOVERY OF RAW MATERIALS
The vapors generated during the thermolysis process are condensed and separated into oil and gas, while the thermolysis coke is discharged separately, cooled and further processed. The cooled thermolysis coke is further processed by grinding and pelletizing into ThermoTireBlack® (TTB).
The Raw Materials
- Gas
- ThermoTireBlack® (TTB)
- ThermoTireOil® (TTO)
energy generation
The gas is then used in our own power plant with turbines to generate electricity. The electricity generated in this way flows directly back into the production process and is used to operate the thermolysis plant. At the same time, the power generation produces heat, which is used for the drying process in the grinding and pelletizing plant.
The Raw Materials
WE BRING VALUABLE MATERIALS BACK INTO THE CYCLE
The recycling process initially produces various material streams: rubber granulate, from which ThermoTireOil and ThermoTireBlack® are produced in the further process, as well as steel wire and textile fibers as by-products. The central raw materials include ThermoTireOil®, ThermoTireBlack®, and gas. In this way, end-of-life tires become valuable raw materials that flow back into industrial value chains.
ThermoTireBlack® (TTB)
produced from ground and subsequently pelletized thermolysis coke.
ThermoTireBlack® can replace part of conventional carbon black in certain applications, which can contribute to reducing the CO₂ footprint.
ThermoTireOil® (TTO)
obtained from the vapors produced during the heating of rubber granulate in the thermolysis process and subsequently condensed;
REACH-registered.
ThermoTireOil® can be used as a feedstock in chemical production processes and partially replace fossil raw material sources.
Gas
is used to supply energy to the thermolysis plant.
Sustainability
“THE EARTH’S RESOURCES ARE FINITE. THEREFORE, WASTE MUST BE OUR RAW MATERIAL SOURCE OF THE FUTURE.”
For Pyrum, circular economy is not an abstract sustainability promise, but an integral part of the business model. Instead of incinerating or exporting end-of-life tires, Pyrum breaks them down again into their valuable components. Using patented thermolysis technology, raw materials are produced that can partially replace fossil primary raw materials.
This is precisely where the special relevance for Europe lies. Many industries depend on fossil primary raw materials and international supply chains. Pyrum demonstrates that part of these raw materials is already present in Europe—bound in materials that have often been regarded as waste. Through the recovery of oil, industrial carbon black, and other valuable materials, Pyrum can help make raw material cycles more regional, independent, and resilient.
After the one-time start-up with external energy, the thermolysis plant supplies itself with energy during ongoing operation. According to a life cycle analysis conducted by Fraunhofer in 2022, the examined Pyrum process shows a net CO₂ saving of up to 965 kg CO₂ equivalent when processing one ton of end-of-life tires, including heat utilization. Pyrum does not solve the raw material shortage alone, but the company demonstrates a concrete path for how waste can become value creation again.
The following film shows how this creates a sustainable industrial system.
Research
“30.9 MILLION TONS OF END-OF-LIFE TIRES ARE GENERATED WORLDWIDE EVERY YEAR:
I TURN THEM INTO CERTIFIED QUALITY.”
Research and development are among Pyrum’s core competencies. The goal is to continuously advance the patented recycling technology and open up new areas of application for difficult-to-recycle waste streams. To secure the technological lead and the quality of the recovered secondary raw materials in the long term, Pyrum operates its own laboratory for internal development work and customer research projects.
This allows process parameters to be investigated in a targeted manner, product properties to be optimized, and new waste streams to be tested for their suitability for thermolysis. The insights gained flow directly into the further development of processes, products, and application possibilities.
TTB Development with Continental
In the research cooperation with Continental that has been running since 2022, the two companies are specifically developing ThermoTireBlack® (patent application under the name “rCB”) for use in new tires. Through the optimization of feedstocks, thermolysis parameters, and post-treatment, two new TTB types with improved properties for rubber and tire compounds have already been developed, tested, and registered.
New Material Streams: CFRP Recycling
In addition to end-of-life tires, Pyrum is researching other difficult-to-recycle materials for which there are currently hardly any circular solutions. This includes the recycling of carbon fiber-reinforced plastics, or CFRP for short. In 2023, Pyrum succeeded for the first time worldwide in recycling CFRP holistically. For this purpose, an automated, semi-industrial demonstration plant was commissioned at the Dillingen site. It is to be further expanded in the future and form the basis for scaling the technology and its use in in-house recycling plants.
Certificates
