A Quick Guide to Recycled Rubber

This might sound counter intuitive but when starting from tire stock, or recycled rubber, you actually start from one of the highest quality rubber compounds offered. Although we might not think about it, rubber tires are made from sophisticated rubber compounds which offer all type of performance characteristics. Those same outstanding properties can then be transferred to the sheet rubber materials you are looking to create. Lastly by mixing it with other polymers you end up with a very rich polymer product. Considering most compounds are 50% polymer, using recycled rubber you produce compounds of 65% polymer content.

Offered below is a short breakdown of the pros/cons of using recycled rubber.

What is reclaimed (Recycled) rubber?
  • Rubber material that goes through the reverse process of vulcanization by breaking the cross-linkage of molecular structure of rubber using chemical, mechanical or other methods.
  • Reclaimed rubber can be vulcanized again as raw material.
  • Majority of reclaimed rubber comes from end-of-life tires.
Advantages
  • Cost competitive vs. virgin polymers
  • Light weight
  • A more polymer rich product
Challenges
  • Consistency of properties
  • Usually lower physical properties than virgin polymer (tensile strength, elongation, heat aging etc.)

While consistency and lower physical properties are often a challenge, through years of refinement Premlene™ products can accurately meet all types of grades, even complicated specification grades. Explore our product line or contact us to find out more about recycled rubber and it’s possible solutions for you.