Ecopneus – an end-of-life tire management authority in Italy – says that despite the difficulties linked to the health emergency, in 2021 the organization achieved important results by ensuring efficient and effective management of end-of-life tires under its responsibility, making a strong contribution to the development of the recycled rubber market and to the stability of the companies in the supply chain.

In 2021 alone, thanks to Ecopneus' recovery activity, over 79 million euros were saved on imports of raw materials and avoided emissions into the atmosphere for 310 thousand tons. of CO2 equivalent, raw material withdrawals for 282 thousand tons. and water consumption of 1.23 million m3.

According to the annual report, in 2021, Ecopneus collected a total of over 200,000 tons of end-of-life tires from over 20,000 tire dealers throughout Italy , exceeding the legal target by 20% . 52% of the ELTs collected was destined for energy recovery , while 48% was sent to the recovery of material to produce granules, rubber and steel powders used in the application sectors of recycled rubber: recreational sports applications (55%), manufactured articles and compounds (24%), rubber articles (8%), acoustic insulation for buildings (16%) and low-noise asphalts (1%). The share of material recovery shows a constantly growing trend, to be read as a result of the consolidation of the industrial system built consisting of a network of 100 qualified companies throughout the national territory.

2021 Annual Report by Ecopneus.

Parallel to the promotion of quality and efficiency in the end-of-life tire treatment chain, Ecopneus' action has, reportedly, also intensively addressed the support of the recycled rubber application market, stimulating and encouraging the continuous improvement of treatment processes and products. During 2021, Ecopneus allocated around 2 million euros in R&D projects to encourage the development of the market for recycled rubber applications, in terms of quality of materials and expansion of application sectors.

To learn more about the organization's activities, visit https://www.ecopneus.it.