ABSTRACT
The reason for devulcanizing rubber or even discussing the devulcanization of rubber is the enormous stockpile of tires. Tires are piled up in fields, filling landfills, or used as reefs in the ocean offshore. As space becomes increasingly less available, uses for scrap rubber become increasingly more necessary. To be usable, the scrap rubber must be changed to a crumb so that a material with increased plasticity and an altered surface can be processed on rubber equipment and a new surface can be cross-linked to itself or virgin material. The unusual aspect of rubber reuse is that it has been pushed by environmental concerns and politics, rather than for scientific purposes.
