100% Green Recycling

Rubber crawler tracks were pioneered by Bridgestone in 1960. Since then millions have been sold worldwide for excavators; skidsteer loaders and many other types of tracked equipment.

Compared to all-steel tracks they solved the problem of damage to road surfaces and dramatically reduced noise.

But there’s a problem. Average track life is only about 12 months and when it comes to disposal of worn-out tracks, nobody has known what to do with them.

They’ve been piling up all over the country or been sent to landfill at ever-increasing cost. Britain is lagging far behind the other major European countries in reducing the waste sent to landfill.

Scrap rubber crawler tracks taking up valuable storage space

Scrap tracks go to landfill because the heavy duty rubber compound is bonded to the steel track and there’s been no environmentally acceptable way of separating the steel from the rubber. The steel cannot be recycled when it is contaminated with rubber and the rubber has to be reduced to powder before it can be re-used.

Now a really “green” solution is available from Recyclatrack Ltd, part of Aquablast Ltd., who for over 20 years have specialized in ultra high pressure (UHP) waterjet technology. Recyclatrack is in partnership with Leach Lewis Plant Ltd., the continuous rubber track pioneer, and the UK’s biggest supplier of replacement rubber crawler tracks.

This is a significant opportunity for track end users to stop being landfillers and become responsible recyclers. Landfill tax in 2010 will be £48 per tonne and by 2013 it will have risen to a whopping £72.00 per tonne. The commercial charge for landfilling is almost bound to increase over this period as well because holes in the ground are becoming harder to find.

Landfilling high quality steel and rubber which can be readily recycled is wasteful. The Recyclatrack process is cost-competitive today and will become the only ethical disposal route as environmental taxes escalate.