Hammarsdale-based tyre recycler, Mathe Group, the last in the country, and Van Dyck, manufacturer of recycled rubber flooring – sister companies in the PFE International Group – are making multiple investments to double output.
British investor and CEO of both Van Dyck and Mathe Group, Dr Mehran Zarrebini said yesterday the pandemic had provided time to plan expansions and formulate a strategy to consolidate the supply chain that links Mathe Group, which recycles radial truck tyres to produce rubber crumb, and Van Dyck, which makes products such as rubber flooring and paving for gyms, fitness areas and playgrounds as well as ballistic tiles, acoustic underlays and livestock mats, from the rubber crumb.
“It accelerated the need to change as a business and to pivot away from soft flooring and into the manufacture of sustainable rubber products,” he said.
According to industry sources, the other last few, much smaller tyre recycling operations in South Africa were forced to close shop for good during the Covid pandemic. Mathe’s tyres are obtained from the Waste Bureau, the custodian of the tyre recycling plans of South Africa.
To facilitate the strategy change, Van Dyck moved machinery for producing moulded goods from the south Durban factory that it sold in 2020, and purchased additional plants, to lift output.
This was part to ensure the entire Hammarsdale operation was completely vertically integrated with both moulding and recycling on the same premises.
Up until then, the moulding division of Van Dyck was a much smaller focus of the overall business. It has been operating every day, 24 hours a day as a standalone business since the beginning of 2022.
“We are coming from a lower base, so we have an opportunity to scale the business further which we are doing now. The new investment will more than double output,” said Zarrebini.
Because the group was now using a lot of the rubber crumb generated by Mathe for its own internal purposes, as well as selling it to external customers, there was a slight constraint on the recycling side.
The next investment strategy phase would be to increase recycling capacity. Mathe’s new machinery, which would be brought in from overseas, was expected to be commissioned within the next three months.
Mathe has also been operating for 24 hours every day since the beginning of 2022. It processes around 700 radial truck tyres per day, producing between 25 and 30 tons of rubber crumb.
The additional equipment was expected to boost this to 45 tons per day and increase tyre usage to approximately 1 000 per day.
“This is energy permitting,” Dr Zarrebini said. Load shedding poses challenges to companies such as Mathe Group that rely on electricity to mechanically recycle tyres.
Mathe installed 980 x 570KW solar panels in October last year on its three buildings.
“This produces up to half a megawatt per hour and ensures we can use sustainable energy for more than half of our operational requirements, a first in South Africa and, possibly, in the world when it comes to tyre recycling,” he said.
Plans to add a second tyre recycling line in Hammarsdale were at the environmental impact assessment stage.
Mathe currently employs 100 people and Van Dyck a similar number with most employees sourced from the surrounding Hammarsdale community.
Dr Zarrebini said exports of Van Dyck products to the UK had increased substantially over the past year with containers of gym tiles and acoustic cradles made from recycled South African tyres being regularly dispatched via the port of Durban. These products had previously been sourced from China and Malaysia.
He said Van Dyck was also working closely with its UK customers to develop more innovative moulded rubber products and flooring solutions.
BUSINESS REPORT