The first ultra-heavy mineral waste tire recycling plant of the Isfahan University of Technology's Smart Mining Research Institute was unveiled and opened in Mooteh to manage industrial waste and reduce environmental pollution, in cooperation with the Iranian Minerals Procurement and Production Company.

According to the Isfahan University of Technology Public Relations, Dr. Hamidreza Safavi, Vice President of Research and Technology of Isfahan University of Technology, stated in a meeting with the Iranian Minerals Supply and Production Company (IMPASCO): This project, with the support and investment of more than five years of the research management of the Iranian Minerals Supply and Production Company and the cooperation of the Smart Mining Research Institute, is innovative in the field of mineral tire recycling.

Stating that about 30,000 tons of worn tires have accumulated in the country, Dr. Safavi continued: The new factory is capable of recycling five tons of these tires daily and returning them to the production cycle.

He added: This project is implemented within the framework of a circular economy and plays an important role in reducing environmental pollution by producing modified carbon, industrial carbon wires, gas extraction, and liquid fuel production.

Also, Touraj Zare, CEO of Iran Minerals Procurement and Production Company, said in this meeting about the benefits of implementing this project: This project can be a turning point in considering effective steps from a resource-based economy to a knowledge-based economy in the field of mining and mineral industries of the country.

He added: The design and construction of the equipment of this factory has been completely carried out by professors, researchers, and students of this university, and has been able to create new job opportunities by increasing productivity.

The CEO of Impasco, stating that the cost of implementing this project is 15 billion Tomans, said: This factory has played an important role in the country's production cycle by converting discarded tires into valuable products, and it is expected that the investment made will be returned within a year.

Dr. Seyed Hadi Hosseini, head of the Smart Mining Research Institute of Isfahan University of Technology, also stated at the ceremony that Iran is the fifth country in the world to have the technology to recycle mineral tires, saying: Previously, only Canada, China, the United States, and Australia had achieved this technology.

He noted about the implementation process and long-term goals of this project: The waste tire recycling project started from the laboratory stage with a 5-kilogram reactor, and now, with the unveiling of a five-ton reactor, it has entered the industrial stage with the ability to recycle five large mineral tires and 8 to 10 small mineral tires daily.

Hosseini said: The new reactor is capable of producing industrial nanocarbon, a material with high absorption power that is used in the food industry and the construction of industrial filters, and has a coverage area of ​​about 70 square meters.

He added: Mote Mine, as the first mining complex in the country to host this project, is considered a successful example of tripartite cooperation between industry, academia, and research.

It is worth mentioning that at the end, the CEO of Impasco and the managers of the country's mining industries visited the Mining Research Institute of Isfahan University of Technology