Green initiative: Scrap tyres turned into eco-friendly floorings

SALALAH, AUGUST 27 - Driven by his own idea of doing something to save the environment, Majid bin Ahmed al Maskari, an entrepreneur, has taken a green initiative of recycling old tyres and converting them into multi-purpose shock absorbent rubber tiles. He got the idea of doing this after seeing piles of tyres dumped in his neighbourhood and reading some articles which suggested that some 4 billion tyres were dumped in wastelands out of one billion produced globally. The quality of rubber and other materials used in tyres, according to him, is one of the best as they are designed to face all kinds of roads, heat and cold conditions. “The worn out tyres may not be good companions for cars anymore, but the rubber in it could be used for many other purposes,” thought Majid, and started searching for solutions. His search ended in China where he got the technology to make shock absorbent rubber floorings. “They were using all sorts of rubber materials to make rubber floors, while I decided to use only discarded tyres.” A resident of Al Buraimi, Majid came out with Aman Rubber Factory in 2012 and claiming to be steady, if not brisk, in his business. He was in Salalah to showcase his product and do some marketing while participating in an exhibition of green initiatives organised by Petroleum Development Oman (PDO). He claims his products are resilient, durable, non-toxic, slip resistant, non-flammable, water permeable and low maintenance. “Top of it, it is an effort to protect the environment by saving the tyres from being burnt that would have released large number of CO2 into the atmosphere.” While recycling the tyres the Aman Rubber Tiles Factory workers use mechanical processes to recycle the material rather than burning it to avoid releasing of CO2, which is a major contributor to climate change. Commenting on market for his products, Majid said, “The buyers mainly are municipality, schools and sports clubs. It is suitable also for stables, gardens and all kinds of parks. “The rubber tiles are considered one of the best solutions for outdoor and sports surfaces. At Aman Rubber we offer wide range of shapes, colours and thickness as per customers’ requirements,” said Majid in support of his product. “Moreover the tiles work as shock absorbers which reduce fall injuries and thus the best suited for schools and playgrounds. It is weather resistant equipped with features like sound and heat insulator.