Advanced Recycling Sciences Announces Launch of Tires2Oil Project
TUSTIN, Calif.--May 23, 2001--Advanced Recycling Sciences, Inc. ("ARS") (OTCBB:ARYC), a leader in the field of acquiring and marketing innovative products and technologies to solve critical environmental problems, today announced that it has subcontracted with Applied Power Concepts, Inc. ("APC") to immediately begin development of the first scalable pilot plant recycling facility for the ARS subsidiary, Tires2Oil(TM), Inc. This site will be located in Anaheim, California.
Tires2Oil, Inc. is developing the patented Super Critical fluid ("SCF") technology for commercially converting scrap tires into crude oil, carbon black and other by-products. The SCF process de-polymerizes scrap rubber, recovering oil and carbon black in its original form for potential industrial applications
APC, working closely with Tires2Oil, Inc., will develop environmentally acceptable technology to convert waste materials into industrially usable products. APC has been involved in the development of many technologies, including removing sulfur from crude oil, removing sulfur compounds from natural gas, improving a hydrogen sulfide caustic scrubber and developing air and water pollution control. William Farone, Ph.D., CEO and founder of APC, is a renowned scientist, and, throughout his career, has achieved significant accomplishments in the field of developing various environmentally clean processes.
"The concept of purifying solid materials that contain sulfur is not well developed. New patentable technology would result in major steps towards recycling rubber and other hydrocarbon based materials. Sulfur will be recovered as usable products, without creating any additional waste streams. Recovery of solid material, carbon black in this case, in a pure form makes the recovered material re-usable for many purposes. These proposed purification processes are vital to the economics of the Tires2oil process as well as to the recycling of other materials and, perhaps most of all, to developing fuels for alternate generating processes," commented Dr. Farone.
"There is a stockpile of 800 million tires in the USA and over 700 million tires in Europe. In addition, one billion tires are discarded annually worldwide. This number will only continue to increase. The impact of technology on addressing this ever-growing problem will be substantial. We believe that there is a significant opportunity as the availability of sulfur-free oil; gas and carbon black will open doors for many industries. By providing the technology to provide solutions to what has been a growing problem, there could potentially be impressive revenue impact to ARS," commented Keith J. Fryer, President and COO.
"In contrast to existing processes of melting tires with thermal energy, most notably pyrolysis, the SCF-derived oil yields significantly better quality and more oil per ton of processed tires. In addition, purified carbon black will be recovered in its original form. This represents a significant breakthrough in tire recycling that creates the first commercially feasible tires to oil (Tires2Oil) technology available anywhere. The usable by-products offer many commercial benefits," commented Sudheer Helekar, Project Manager. The project is expected to be completed in the first half of 2002.
Alternative energy sources may play an increasingly important role in the economy. Despite increasingly efficient use of primary energy, the World Energy Council (WEC) expects energy consumption to climb 43% in the next 20 years as the population grows and industrial development continues. We believe scrap tires are a realistic alternative. "Our expectations are that the Tires2oil technology will help solve these growing energy problems," commented Helekar.