Good Thinking

SymTyre machine makes old tires flat-packable

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The SymTyre-S300 is a machine that cuts up discarded tires, so they can be flat-packed for more efficient storage and transport
The SymTyre-S300 is a machine that cuts up discarded tires, so they can be flat-packed for more efficient storage and transport
Symphony Recycling Technologies is hoping to sell or rent SymTyre machines to businesses such as tire depots or garages
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Tires are one of those things that our society goes through a lot of, yet their disposal can be problematic. Being round and containing a large air cavity, they’re not exactly the most efficient things to store or transport. Those that don’t get recycled can end up collecting water and acting as breeding grounds for mosquitoes, or becoming part of giant “tire mountains.” A new device, however, is designed to cut them apart so they can be flat-packed – thus reducing the space they take up, and maximizing the amount that can be transported at once.

Made by UK-based Symphony Recycling Technologies, the SymTyre-S300 semi-automatic tire cutter can reportedly disassemble a standard automotive tire in approximately one minute ... with a little help from a human assistant.

Symphony Recycling Technologies is hoping to sell or rent SymTyre machines to businesses such as tire depots or garages

The process starts with the tire being mounted inside the machine and locked in place. The SymTyre’s cutters then move in and remove both sidewalls. Once that process is complete, the user takes out the sidewalls and tread, then uses an attached platform and a built-in circular saw to cut width-wise through the tread – converting it from a ring to a strip.

The sidewall discs and tread strips can then be stacked and banded tightly together, or even stored in optional purpose-built stackable bins. According to the company, tires that are cut apart and stored in such a manner occupy up to 70 percent less space than whole tires.

Symphony is now hoping to sell or rent SymTyre machines to businesses such as tire depots or garages, and will offer a pick-up service for processed tires within the UK.

The machine can be seen in action in the video below.

Source: Symphony Recycling Technologies

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8 comments
Fishing Zebra
Isn't tire shredding a better solution in the long run? Even if the machinery is more expensive it's probably less labor intensive to operate. www.youtube.com/watch?v=FZdtFD-uyOQ
Panayis Zambellis
this is useful for local tyre replacement outlets to rationalize their disposal procedures economies are possible in reducing transport costs delivering tyres to the shredders
toller
I've seen a fellow cut out the sidewalls with a razor knive essentially doing the same thing as this machine. Granted, he must have had very strong arms, and he was at least as fast as that machine.
For the machine to worthwhile, it would need to be automated if it is going to cut up fields full of tires.
bergamot69
@toller,
I don't think this is designed to deal with fields full of tyres- that job is best done by wholesale recyclers.
One thing I have noticed about British tyre centres is that activity comes in bursts, with periods of inactivity between clients. This product would give staff something useful to do in quiet periods.
At least in this country mosquito breeding is much less of an issue!
Ormond Otvos
Well, they got halfway there. It just cries out for further automation: air-powered expander, cutting blade in first cabinet, still leaves big hole in stacked sidewalls.
Gregg Eshelman
In the USA, old tire sidewalls are often used to weight down plastic traffic bollards at construction sites.
SamC
No mention of using them for rammed earth walls?
pointyup
Silly idea. Ormond Otvos is right. But why stop there. Cut the side wall away from the beadingand recover the steel. burn the tyres in a furnace to produce electricity and recover the tread belts. Collect the soot and recycle it as CARBON BLACK. Cant believe any one would build a machine to create more waste.