High demand for virgin rubber and regulatory pressure on waste tire management firms have processors and rubber manufacturers taking another look at devulcanization technologies. Devulcanization is a potential method of recycling rubber from waste tires. A Key leason for examining devulcanization is that it offers a process that can potentially con-veil vulcanized rubber from waste tires into high quality rubber that can once again be vulcanized into rubber products. This potential provides entrepreneurs and processors with the motivation to pursue devulcanization. Devulcanization of rubber from waste tires has a long history. The last five to ten years has seen renewed interest in the subject due to increased regulatory pressure and public concern for properly managing waste tires. Coin-cidently. interest in waste tire devulcanization, as well as in other forms of waste tire recycling, also peaks when the market price for virgin rubber is high, and rubber manufacturers scour the marketplace for less expensive rubber feedstock for their manufacturing opera- tions.
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