At the end of the 1970s, the automotive industry was booming, leading to a major waste problem with end-life-tyres, also commonly referred to as ELTs, scrap tyres or simply used tyres. As tyres only slowly degrade in landfill sites, an alternative disposal method was required. The idea of establishing a plant for the recycling of ELTs was born.
During the 1980s, this idea was further developed; and in 1990, the first Genan recycling plant for end-of-life tyres became a reality in Viborg, Denmark. The input capacity was 35,000 tonnes of mixed ELTs (i.e. tyres from passenger cars, vans, trucks, tractors and large earth-movers).
During the 1990s, the Danish factory was continually developed and improved; and in 2011, the intake capacity of the Viborg plant was doubled to 70,000 tonnes.
In 2003, on the basis of the knowledge and experience gained from the Danish plant, Genan opened its second tyre recycling plant in Oranienburg, on the outskirts of Berlin, Germany. The input capacity was 65,000 tonnes of ELTs per annum.