Two companies have formed a joint venture to recycle scrap tires.

Westport, Conn.-based Tirex Corp., which has a patented tire recycling technology, the TCS system, formed the venture with consulting firm Wyoming Corporate Headquarters LLC (WCH) of West Columbia, S.C. Tirex will own 25 percent of the venture.

WCH is the majority owner of Altgen LLC of Evanston, Ill., which has leased a 100,000-sq.-ft. leased facility in the Memphis area. The facility will be the first commercial installation of a TCS-2 system, the companies said in a news release. Altgen obtained a license from the state of Tennessee to collect, store and process scrap tires at the facility.

Engineering consulting firm JECC of Saint-Michel-des-Saints, Quebec, has agreed to fabricate and install the TCS system for $7.5 million.

"With the successful collection of scrap tires, this joint venture moves Tirex from its 'developmental stage' to a commercial entity with revenue-generating operations and is just the tip of the iceberg for the expansion of our technology into the market," said Tirex President John L. Threshie Jr.

"Tennessee generates more than 45,000 tons of scrap tires annually, and we are negotiating, on a county-by-county basis, the collection and recycling fees it generates ranging from $50 to $90 per ton received at collection," said WCH CEO Brooks Stanton.