Ruark & Wyatt designed this facility for Seven Islands Environmental Solutions, a subsidiary of Cox Enterprises. Seven Islands incubates new technologies that can be replicated to create environmental solutions, and the Golden Isles Conservation Center is part of Cox’s ongoing commitment to sustainability and innovation.

The Center will initially focus on recycling tires. A front-end system will utilize organic materials such as wood chips to generate heat. The heat breaks down tires into their three original components—carbon black, synthesis oil and synthesis gas—while producing no harmful emissions. The facility can recycle up to 480 tires a day and will divert 80,000 tires from landfills each year.

The synthesis oil and carbon black will be repurposed for many uses, including the creation of filtration systems, rubber hoses and inks, among others. The synthesis gas will generate energy for the closed-loop Center and will be fed back into the grid, creating clean energy for the community.