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In December 2020, the European Recycling Industries’ Confederation – the umbrella organisation for European Recycling Industries – published a brochure on mechanical tire recycling highlighting the organization’s contribution towards circular economy and climate neutrality. EuRIC Brochure presents key facts about mechanical end-of-life tire recycling, which is a major enabler of circularity and climate mitigation for the entire tire value chain. The Brochure describes the current state of play of ELT management with recommendations to overcome key challenges faced by the European mechanical tire recycling industry be them embedded in legislation, market failures or eco-design. It features key numbers outlining the economic importance of the ELT recycling sector as well as its benefits for the environment and society.

An e-magazine Truck&FleetMe.com reports that the Abu Dhabi Waste Management Center (Tadweer) has opened its expanded used tire recycling facility in Abu Dhabi with a capacity to treat 70,000 tons of end-of-life tires annually. The project was built in partnership with a private sector company Tarheel to ensure the safe disposal of used tires for minimizing environmental and public health risks. A statement from Tadweer said the private sector partner it has contracted with is Tarheel Collecting Wastes LLC, an Abu Dhabi-based firm with over 10 years of expertise in waste management and environment services. Under the partnership, Tarheel collects and cleans used tires prior to their recycling and treatment at the dedicated facility, which has recycled nearly 17,000 tons of tires this year until the end of the third quarter. Tarheel has set up a new integrated automated plant in collaboration with its Italian partner to increase its total facility capacity to 100,000 tons annually.

Tyrecycle – an Australian end-of-life tyre recycling company – moves to expand its operations in Sydney with a new state-of-the-art manufacturing plant. Australian e-magazine Waste Management Review reports that Australia’s leading tyre recycler, Tyrecycle is gearing up for a purpose-built multi-million dollar rubber crumb manufacturing plant in Sydney, following significant growth in the uptake of its products produced from end-of-life tyres. Tyrecycle Chief Executive Officer Jim Fairweather says the move is to cater for strong demand over the past two years, with the company experiencing a 30 per cent growth in sales of rubber crumb.

According to expert opinion in the tire recycling industry, BlackCycle – the research project coordinated by Michelin – can revolutionize end-of-life tire recycling worldwide. This opinion was voiced by experts during a meeting of the Bureau of International Recycling (BIR) at its Tires & Rubber Committee on October 15, 2020. There was tangible excitement at the BIR Tyres & Rubber Committee webinar on October 15 following a guest presentation on the recycling of end-of-life tires (ELTs) into secondary raw materials for tires and other product applications.

In August 2020, the Portuguese Technical Commission CT-181 “Produtos reciclados de pneus” (Recycled Products from Tires) sent its official response to the European Chemical Agency (ECHA) with regard to ECHA’s proposed restrictions for the use of crumb rubber in synthetic turf sports fields. Earlier in 2019 and 2020, ECHA proposed an outright ban on crumb rubber use where the particle size was <5mm or a thread length was <15mm. This recommendation to the European Commission was to include a six-year adoption period from 2021.

Round 10 of the Australia’s Federal Government’s Cooperative Research Centres Projects (CRC-P) grants program is open, with $10 million available for projects that provide innovative solutions for the recycling and reuse of tires, plastics, paper and glass. Industry, Science and Technology Minister Karen Andrews said the funding builds on the $20 million invested in Round 8 to find smart solutions to managing Australia’s waste crisis. “Recycling our waste is more than an environmental imperative, it presents an opportunity for us to grow the economy and create new jobs,” she said.

According to the source, "Dimantu kalns" in the Rembate parish of the municipality of Ķegums, with a 43-hectare area, is a vast recreational complex in which camps, weddings and other events are organized. Now the owners of "Dimantu kalns" plan to set up a mountain in their area, using old car tires at its base. Justifying the idea, the owner of the recreational complex, Peteris Dimants, says that end-of-life tires are widely used in the strengthening of dams, mountain bases and forest roads and referred to as old practice in Europe.

What is important to tire recycling and retreading industry, retreaded tires will be partly affected by the regulation, too. In addition, ERJ reports that the UK road safety awareness group TyreSafe has welcomed a recent government initiative to ban tires aged 10 years or older, saying it highlights the importance of the safety of part-worn tires for the public.

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.