BGCC Presents New Eco-Friendly Georgian Start-Up

GeoRubber, a new eco-friendly Georgian company, was introduced to the public last Monday by Mako Abashidze, Founding Director of the British Georgian Chamber of Commerce (BGCC) and Sandro Kamarauli, representative of GeoRubber.

GeoRubber is a start-up wishing to address environmental problems in Georgia through its actions- a mission which fully corresponds to the EU’s requirements for waste management. In short, the company uses non-polluting rubber recycling methods to produce high-quality building material from recycled goods. Claiming the new start-up to be the first of its kind in Georgia, and in the wider region, Kamarauli pointed out the potential of GeoRubber’s competitive advantage and the possibility of its expansion onto the markets of Turkey, Armenia, Azerbaijan and Ukraine.

GeoRubber’s main activity will be two-fold production, first and most important recycling using the “Cold Grinding” method with ingredients extracted from used tires: steel wire scrap, which can be used as scrap-metal; nylon fiber, widely used in oil drilling operations; and most importantly, granulated rubber dust. By utilizing granulated rubber dust, different shapes and colors of tiles, mats, carpets and blocks can be produced to be used in the construction of playgrounds, parking garages, sidewalks, stairs, roads, housing, bicycle tracks, running tracks and sports arenas, Kamarauli stated.

Georgia produces about 22,000 tons of used tire waste annually, most of which is disposed of by burning and burial, resulting in pollution.

An increase in GeoRubber production will gradually replace demand for pebble and gravel, which are harvested from river banks and used for building roads and highways, a method which, on its own, is damaging to the environment and causes artificial change of river bank structure, often resulting in flooding.

GeoRubber claims it can recycle between 857 to 2571 tons of rubber per year without causing any type of environmental damage.

During the BGCC presentation, it was emphasized that as a new start-up, GeoRubber is actively seeking potential investors and partners.

Collaboration with GeoRubber will give access to the supply of high-quality building materials, while at the same time will undoubtedly help play a key role in addressing environmental problems in Georgia.

Nino Gugunishvili