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Good news came from the answer to the European Chemical Agency (ECHA) from the Portuguese team members of the CEN/TC 366, department responsible for the standardization of recycled materials obtained from end-of-life tires (ELT) of European Committee of Standardization, on how crumb rubber affects human health.

Genan – one of the largest end-of-life tire recycling companies in the world – reports that the political discussion about the use of rubber granulate in artificial turf pitches has now been launched by the EU Commission. In its recent article, Genan informs that different committees under the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) have been asked to provide their assessments during the process leading up to the Commission recommendation. These committees include the Risk Assessment Committee (RAC), which recommends a total ban on the use of rubber granulate with a 6-year phase-in period, and the Committee for Socio-Economic Analysis (SEAC), which in addition to the ban proposes the alternative of installing Risk Management Measures (RMM) on pitches to prevent spreading.

Amid the latest news about the intention of the EU Commission to ban sales of rubber granulate as infill for artificial turf pitches as of 2031, Genan – one of the largest end-of-life tire recycling companies in the world – releases the Letter of Information and detailed Q&A where the company explains what is happening with rubber infill.

Bridgestone suggest using rubber granulate to produce dredged clay that has sealing and filling properties, thus boosting cement’s durability and reducing absorptivity. Bridgestone has conducted trials of rubberized clay finding that clay modified with rubber granulate could be used for structures under deformation as cracks formed exclusively around the rubber, therefore they could “prevent the growth of wide cracks”, according the Bridgestone’s manager.

This post is a summary of numerous researches and articles published by European and American research institutions. Dozens of independent researches carried out in Europe and U.S. throughout the past decade inferred that tire-derived rubber infill in the artificial turf poses no threat to human health. Researchers assert unanimously that exposure of athletes’ skin to crumb rubber infill on stadiums and playgrounds yields no elevated risk of cancer. As the issue has been assuming additional importance, it achieved the level of the European Chemical Agency (ECHA) which, together with the European Committee of Standardization, carried out comprehensive researches about crumb rubber exposure on human health.

Currently rubber recycled from end-of-life tires (ELTs) was ranked 3rd among the most suitable candidate streams for which to develop further EU-wide end-of-waste (EoW) criteria in the European Commission JRC’s report. The European Tyre and Rubber Manufacturers’ association (ETRMA) and the European Recycling Industries’ Confederation (EuRIC) are pleased about this prioritization exercise, although they are right to wonder why there is no date on the horizon. The 3rd place (after Plastic and Textiles) is still worth a medal, nevertheless. Considering the enormous potential of chemical recycling (pyrolysis) of ELTs, the (very) few missing points could have been made up (author's opinion) and a time horizon might be foreseeable.

In 2021, the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) is continuing undertaking efforts to ban crumb rubber – recycled rubber granulate from shredded end-of-life tires – from artificial turf and playgrounds. ECHA’s intent to restrict the use of crumb rubber started back in 2019 when the organization, allegedly, found a scientific evidence against the use of recycled tire rubber in synthetic turf. Despite ECHA’s assertions, there hasn’t been a single scientific proof of human health risks caused by crumb rubber in other studies and research carried out by numerous research institutions worldwide.

The decision of Kuwaiti company to engage in tire recycling business was made in 2017 when EPSCO commenced working with Weibold, an independent expert company focused on tire recycling & pyrolysis consulting and based in Vienna, Austria. To ensure success of EPSCO’s tire recycling project, Weibold carried out market studies, technical due diligence on equipment vendors, down-stream manufacturing evaluation, and pre-installation supervision.

The European Chemical Agency’s Risk Assessment Committee (RAC) is proposing an EU-wide ban on microplastics infill in sports and other play surfaces from 2028 due to ‘possible’ environmental releases. Since our tyres contain a mixture of natural rubber and synthetic polymers (TDRM), these are deemed to have been intentionally introduced into infill materials. The ECHA further claims that 16,000 tonnes of this material is ‘released’ into the environment annually and constitutes its justification for the proposed ban.