The University of Trinidad and Tobago (UTT) has entered a partnership with the Caribbean Industrial Research Institute (CARIRI), which focuses on the recycling of waste tyres.
The agreement was signed at the UTT Chaguanas campus where the newly formed Rubber Crumb Project was agreed upon by both institutions.
According to CARIRI, there is an average of three million tyres imported into Trinidad and Tobago annually.
With there being limited tyre disposal or recycling options available, this project is expected to combat environmental problems caused by the pollution of some 1.5 million scrap tyres across the country.
“This two-year pilot plant will allow us to look at the commercial aspects of utilising waste tyres, turning them into rubber crumbs to use in asphalt mix designed for road paving or rubber tiles or rubber mats and so on. So, this will allow us moving forward to utilise, to see how well this waste product can now be utilised to the benefit of society,” said Chief Executive Officer of CARIRI Hans–Erich Schulz.
Engineering students from UTT are expected to benefit from this project by being given the opportunity to interact with the manufacturing facilities used to break down the tyres into refined raw materials.
Business students will also be able to interact with the business model that is expected to generate income and employment.
“It is a sort of a real-world application for something that probably hasn’t been done before (In T&T). And we are looking to work with a university, UTT in this case, with a plant on the South campus location to see what real world application can be applied using this waste product,” Schulz said.
Source: Trindad and Tobago Guardian
