I want to recycle old tires and sell them. Can I earn money? DAVE FISHWICK responds

I am currently unemployed and hoping to start my own business. You said it’s never too late.

Can you imagine a business where companies pay you for your raw materials? The same product you need to process through a plant which will then give you four products to sell in the market.

One of the four products will allow you to be energy self-sufficient and never depend on the national grid or bear high energy costs. This business is also incredibly beneficial for the environment and will reduce landfill tonnage.

My idea is to start a tire pyrolysis business, a method of melting waste tires without oxygen, this results in four components that can be reused or sold for future use.

As you probably know, companies have to pay to have their customers dispose of old tires properly; Currently the price per tire for disposal ranges between £1.50 and £2 for a standard car tyre, and commercial tires can be higher. £10 per tire. In reality, this means that they pay you for your raw materials.

I currently run a classic commercial vehicle restoration group, we restore vintage buses to take to fairs and I know how to build and manage a team.

I would like to know what you think of my idea. I have some savings to invest in a business, but obviously I don’t want to throw them away either.

Bank on Dave: our business doctor

This Is Money business doctor Dave Fishwick says: I’ve heard about pyrolysis through research for a media project, and it seems like a great idea for waste products that can’t be directly recycled, as long as it’s done in an environmentally friendly way.

Some of the products from tire heating are toxic, and critics of this process and waste incineration point to this as a potential danger, with another drawback being the fact that carbon dioxide is still emitted when burning them.

I think it’s wrong that we don’t recycle tires universally. As you said in your question, they are made of various materials, all of which have uses and value.

As you may know, high-value tires, such as those on heavy commercial vehicles and aircraft, are often remanufactured. It used to be common with car tires as well, but as the cost of tires has dropped, many are imported from China.

However, there is a safety issue; Since modern cars had higher top speeds, the reshaped tires had a lower speed rating than the new tires.

The tires are incredibly strong and flexible and provide excellent grip so they can be reused and recycled.

One inventive application I saw is that sections of the tread are placed as a non-slip surface for outside steps. I’m sure they could be put to many other uses as well.

It’s amazing how much we throw away when it can be reused, repurposed or recycled. Plastic also fits into the category of a valuable and useful commodity, which is often simply thrown away, buried or, worse still, burned in the open in some countries.

Even the plastic, which we think we are recycling, is frequently exported and we cannot be sure that it is not simply being thrown away.

At my local recycling centre, I’ve noticed that sometimes they have a bin for recycling plastics and sometimes they don’t, which means the plastic has to go in the general rubbish and, I assume, a landfill.

However, they do have a used tire section; It would be interesting to see what happens to them.

An answer often heard when asking why innovative solutions like this don’t exist on a large scale is cost. This costs a lot.

Let’s assume this is the only reason, since so much waste goes into rivers that there is an island of plastic in the ocean or it is burned in the open or buried. In that case, it is up to our governments to tip the balance in favor of sustainability.

I’ve heard that using new plastic is only slightly cheaper than recycled plastic. In this case, a small tax on new plastic production would turn recycled material into a commercially viable resource rather than a problem and pollutant.

Another effective solution that works for plastic bottles in some countries is a deposit system. This gives value to the empty bottle and drastically reduces the amount that ends up in landfills or, worse still, littering the countryside or polluting waterways.

The same type of plan could perhaps be applied to tires and other products. This could encourage manufacturers with the resources and experience to take care of their end-of-life products.

I fear setting up and equipping a commercial-scale operation and complying with environmental regulations could be prohibitively expensive. It may be too expensive for a small business to afford.

I have a friend who created something very similar to your idea and unfortunately went bankrupt due to huge costs. I try very hard not to be negative in my column.

However, part of your question asked my opinion on “Do I think you could lose all your savings?” And this time around, yes, I think the costs of making this business a profit may be unsustainable.

However, on this occasion, I would love to be proven wrong as I would love to see more recycling in the UK.

Good luck!