Tire Wire
A tire is comprised of two types of steel wire i) the heavy-gauge steel loop known as bead wire that secures the tire to its rim and ii) the cord or belt wire, a thinner gauge wire that runs under the tread of a steel-belted radial tire. A typical passenger car contains about 2.5 pounds of bead and belt steel.
BDS Tire Recycling, Inc. liberates the tire wire from the rubber tires with a series of shredders, screens, and magnets. The separated tire wire is mostly rubber-free (less than 2%).
Our clean tire wire is most often compressed into small briquettes measuring approximately six (6) inches in diameter and about five (5) inches thick and weighing approximately fifteen pounds.
The briquettes or loose wire are sold to steel mills and foundries as an alternative to virgin carbon. The tire wire has a high level of carbon content, typically between 0.7% to 0.95%. This level of carbon creates the high strength of the steel, which is why the mills and foundries purchase the tire wire to manufacture new steel products.
