At the end of the 1970s, the idea of establishing a plant for the recycling of scrap tires was born. The automotive industry was booming and waste tires, which degraded slowly in landfills and in the natural environment nature, was a problem society was starting to address.

In the 1980s, new concepts were developed and, in 1990, the first recycling plant for scrap tires became a reality in Viborg, Denmark. Input capacity was 35,000 MT of mixed scrap tires (passenger car, van, truck, tractor and big earth-moving tires).

During the 1990s, the Danish factory continually developed and improved. In 2011, capacity at the Viborg plant was doubled to 70,000 MT of scrap tire input.

In 2003, based on the knowledge and experience gained from the Danish plant, Genan opened a tire recycling plant at Oranienburg, on the outskirts of Berlin, Germany. Input capacity was 65,000 MT of scrap tires a year.

Five years later, in 2008, a 70,000 MT plant opened in Dorsten, Germany. When a third German plant with a similar capacity started operations in Kammlach, Bavaria, in 2010, the Genan recycling plant strategy for Germany was complete.

In 2014, with an ambition to advance material recycling of scrap tires in the most beneficial way, environmentally as well as economically, Genan expanded operations with its first non-European plant. Genan opened the world’s largest tire recycling plant in Houston, Texas, USA, boasting an impressive 100,000 MT input capacity a year.

At Genan, we believe that true recycling requires processing at a level where the output can substitute virgin raw material. Genan is always investing time and resources in improving and identifying new applications for its products.

We launched a cryogenic milling and devulcanization R&D project in 2011. In 2015, production of cryogenic powder and devulcanized rubber was started up in Viborg. Genan now supplies ultra-fine rubber powder and devulcanized rubber of uniformly high quality that can be used in the manufacture of new tires. Genan is a pioneer that offers authentic cradle-to-cradle tire recycling.