"The resolution signals potential trouble ahead for SOBE Thermal’s proposal to turn 88 tons a day of tires into gas and then steam, amid a global fight over “advanced recycling.”"

"The Youngstown City Council approved a resolution on Wednesday night opposing an “advanced recycling” plant that would have used a process called pyrolysis to burn old tires to make steam for heating and cooling downtown buildings.

The unanimous, 7-0 vote on the nonbinding measure sent an unequivocal message to SOBE Thermal Energy Systems that significant questions remain regarding its technology, a zero or very-low-oxygen chemical process that would turn shredded tires into a gas that would be burned to produce the steam.

Advocates insist pyrolysis, a type of what the chemical industry calls “advanced” or “chemical” recycling, is not incineration, but critics argue that’s a distinction without much of a difference. Often described by its supporters as environmentally sustainable, environmental advocates consider pyrolysis to be high-heat, energy-intensive manufacturing with a large carbon footprint that is mostly used to just make new fossil fuels."

James Bruggers reports for Inside Climate News September 22, 2023. [2]