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Despite its opposition to Extended Producer Responsibility in the UK, the Tyre Recovery Association (TRA) welcomed the Indian government's initiative of an action plan to manage the country's growing waste volumes.

India has taken a significant step towards implementing Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) for waste tires with the introduction of draft regulations under the Hazardous and Other Wastes (Management and Transboundary Movement) Rules, 2016. The guidelines aim to streamline operations for producers and recyclers in compliance with the new EPR regime. The Tire & Rubber Recycling Association of India (TRRAI) recently organized a conference to discuss the challenges and opportunities facing the tire and rubber recycling industry in light of these developments.

The draft notification for regulations for the extended producer responsibility (EPR) for tires has been shared by the Indian Ministry of Environment, Forests, and Climate Change. This move could have a huge impact on many countries that are the largest exporters of waste tires to India.

According to a recent study, recycling used tires has less of an impact on the environment than using new materials to make the same items. In order to fulfill producer obligations under the Tire Regulation 225/18 and the Resource Recovery and Circular Economy Act (RRCEA) of Ontario, producers must receive services that help them reach the regulatory goal of collecting and recycling 100 percent of the used tires they sell into the market. This involves delivering them to processing facilities and confirming how they are transformed into new products for authorized usage as Tire Derived Products on the market (TDP). A TDP replaces the more traditional method of producing goods by using fresh, or "raw," resources. People anticipate that recycled tire products will be more environmentally friendly than the new materials they replace. The goal of the Scrap Tire Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), a study in which seven members of the Canadian Association of Tire Recycling Agencies voluntarily participated, was to quantify this expectation (CATRA). The study involved gathering and analyzing data from participating tire recycling companies utilizing information from 2017 to 2020.

Chile’s state-owned mining company Codelco has signed an agreement with collective management system Valora Más to strengthen the collection, recycling and valorization of end-of-life tires generated across its mining operations. The partnership covers category A tires with rim diameters below 57 inches, including tires from light vehicles and equipment supporting mining activities, and operates within Chile’s Extended Producer Responsibility framework under Law No. 20.920. The agreement gives Codelco two routes for managing these tires: transferring them directly to Valora Más for recycling at no cost, or documenting tires recycled through Codelco and authorized waste managers and assigning those verified tonnes to Valora Más in return for an agreed payment per kilogram. At Codelco’s El Teniente Division, more than 1,500 tonnes of category A waste tires have already been recorded as properly recovered under the new reporting system, demonstrating how traceability and producer responsibility mechanisms can create both environmental and economic value from tire recycling in the mining sector.

Compañía Minera Lomas Bayas in Chile recovered and valorized 289.36 tonnes of end-of-life tires during 2025, reaching 202% of the 143-tonne target established for the period under the country’s Extended Producer Responsibility framework. The result was certified by Michelin and marks the second consecutive year in which Lomas Bayas has received recognition for its management of Category B waste tires. The mining company uses a coordinated logistics model that tracks tires from their arrival at the site through removal and recycling, with the same trucks that deliver new tires collecting end-of-life units and transporting them to Michelin’s recycling plant in Antofagasta. In 2026, Lomas Bayas expanded the model further and expects to remove around 350 additional waste tires from the mine for recycling, reinforcing the role of traceability, coordinated logistics and producer responsibility in the circular management of mining tires.

Ecomondo 2026 will return to the Rimini Expo Centre in Italy from November 3 to 6 with an expanded international profile, a broader Waste as a Resource exhibition area and stronger emphasis on circular economy policy, resource recovery, bioeconomy, digital technologies and sustainable manufacturing. The 29th edition of the Italian Exhibition Group event is being developed as an increasingly cross-sector platform connecting industry, institutions, researchers and policymakers working on the green, blue and circular economy. For recycling industries, including tire recycling and rubber recycling, the expanded waste and resource recovery focus is particularly relevant as European companies face tighter requirements around Extended Producer Responsibility, secondary raw materials, circular product design and domestic recycling capacity. Ecomondo 2026 will also increase the number of English-language conferences and international institutional participants, with discussions expected around the Circular Economy Act, Critical Raw Materials Act, RESourceEU Action Plan, bioeconomy policy and new EPR provisions.

The European Council has approved the EU end-of-life vehicle regulation, following a European Parliament vote earlier in June, meaning the legislation is now set to become law after publication in the Official Journal of the EU. The regulation introduces mandatory recycled plastic content targets for new vehicles and creates new rules for vehicle design, treatment of end-of-life vehicles, recycled material sourcing, exports and extended producer responsibility. The rules are expected to affect automotive manufacturers, recyclers, plastics suppliers and circular material producers, while also shaping future demand for recycled polymers and potentially influencing the role of tire-derived elastomers, pyrolysis oil and other recovered materials in the automotive value chain.

Robert Weibold – the founder a tyre recycling and pyrolysis consulting company Weibold – was interviewed by the Rubber Review magazine this February. Below, we cite Issue 33 of the Rubber Review magazine (February 16-22) featuring the interview.