The Youngstown, Ohio city council rejected a proposal for an advanced recycling plant that would have used pyrolysis to process old tires to make gas for heating.
The unanimous vote sent a message to SOBE Thermal Energy Systems that many questions abound regarding its technology, a zero or very low oxygen chemical process that turns shredded tires into a gas that could be burned to produce steam.
The council rejected the plan on the basis of its proximity to “densly populated neighborhoods, a hospital, jail, schools and churches.” They believed that the risks from the plant were high, and cited a fire at a Brightmark plastics pyrolysis plant in Indiana, and also objected to the pollutants, including particulates and toxic chemicals.
Pyrolysis is an “advanced” or “chemical” recycling process, not incineration, according to many advocates.