A laboratory research center is expected in Kaunas FEZ
The management of Kaunas FEZ has signed an agreement with UAB Polylema, which intends to install a laboratory research center on a 0.4 ha plot. Polylema is part of the Rubinntec group of companies in the USA, and the new laboratory is dedicated to the research, development and application of tire recycling technology developed and patented by Rubinntec to production processes.
The opening of the 450 sq. m laboratory is scheduled for June 2021. The planned investment in the new research center will amount to 2.8 million over three years. The investment is for equipment and employees, excluding the price of buildings and plot. The company currently employs three people, and by the middle of next year, the team should grow to approximately ten of laboratory and administrative staff.
“The task of our research center is to turn the laboratory processes developed by Rubinntec into efficient, licensed and precise production processes. In other words, to create cost-effective and efficient tire recycling according to Rubinntec’s patented technologies,” says Martynas Jankauskas, CEO of Polylema.
According to him, the business that developed the new technology was looking for favorable conditions for the further development of sustainable tire recycling. The decision was helped by greater European support for those implementing green projects and access to European support.
“Kaunas FEZ was favorable for us from a logistical point of view – especially from the perspective of long-term development,” says M. Jankauskas.
In the new laboratory, the prototype idea will become the body and will complement the industrial testing of Rubinntec technology currently being carried out in international laboratories.
“In order to produce a product, it is necessary to create a recipe for it, provide accurate descriptions of technological processes – only then can it be offered to the market. This will be done by Polylema, which will sell both the technology itself and the reagents needed for the process in the future,” explains the head of the company.
The new technology will consist of two main elements: a mixture of two components of a compatibilizer and a catalyst for a tire (their rubber chip) recycling reactor (recycling line), and a technological (operating mode) regulation for this reactor.
Currently, there are three main directions for dealing with the disposal of used tires: the reuse, incineration or storage of rubber waste in specially adapted landfills. M. Jankauskas points out that none of these methods allows to recover rubber or cleanly dispose of tires.
“Not everyone understands that simply mechanically crushing rubber without devulcanizing it and pouring it into asphalt or making a rug are not sustainable solutions. Suppose that if the normally crushed rubber is poured into the bitumen and does not dissolve in it, then the tires recycled by our technology turn into an oil product that dissolves in hot bitumen like sugar in tea – thus obtaining a homogeneous modified bitumen. Therefore, another task of Polylema will be the sale and use of recycled rubber products. Another example: the possibility of making the soles from such a recycled rubber for the product of one of the most famous manufacturers of sports footwear in the world is already being discussed,” says the head of Polylema.
Polylema, which will start research in summer, will become another company engaged in R&D activities in the territory of Kaunas FEZ: companies such as Freda, Elinta and Axioma Metering are already developing products based on research and innovation.
Kaunas FEZ provides conditions for businesses engaged in the development of innovations, developing new materials, products and equipment, implementing new or improving already established processes. To this end, a sustainable Smartpark cluster is being set up, the aim of which is to attract smart specialization companies and encourage Kaunas FEZ already investing companies to invest in the development and production of new products.
