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CGW said around one-fifth of scrap tires in North Rhine-Westphalia are estimated to end up in illegal disposal or export. The project partners argue that many of these tires still contain value, either through remaining mileage, recoverable raw materials or potential use in circular tire applications.

The EU Parliament and Council reached a provisional agreement in November 2023 to revise EU waste shipment procedures with the goal of improving environmental and human health protection, while also supporting climate neutrality, circular economy, and zero pollution objectives. The revised Waste Shipment Regulation (WSR) underwent a final vote in a Strasbourg plenary session on February 27, 2024, with 587 in favour, eight against, and 33 abstentions. Find more information about the development of this regulation here.

The latest data from the Environment Agency shows that the new measures are being systematically ignored by exporters. Out of 4,189 shipments of waste tyres since 1 October 2025, just 54 post-shipment forms were completed correctly—a compliance rate of just 1.3%.

Messer will present gas solutions supporting the circular economy of tires at The Tire Cologne 2024, June 4-6, 2024, in Cologne, Germany. Messer, the world’s largest privately held industrial gas specialist, will take part in The Tire Cologne together with AZuR (Allianz Zukunft Reifen), a network committed to fostering a circular economy for tires. Messer’s booth will be centrally located in hall 7.1, booth A040 – B049, in the exhibition area dedicated to circular economy, where the latest technology solutions for the sustainable production and recycling of tires will be presented.

Chemical recycling is an emerging theme in waste management which has the potential to contribute to a low carbon, resource efficient and sustainable economy. In enabling the use of carbonaceous waste as secondary carbon feedstock to replace fossil resources to produce organic chemicals, it could support efforts to transit carbon intensive industries from the linear to a circular carbon economy. A sustainable society with climate-neutral processes requires significant adjustments in the value chains, which are only possible through innovations. In the “Waste4Future” lighthouse project, seven institutions of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft (Germany) are pooling their expertise to develop new solutions for this goal, from the raw material basis to material flows and process engineering to the end of a product’s life cycle. They aim to increase energy and resource efficiency when using plastics and thus pave the way for a chemical industry that requires fewer fossil raw materials and causes fewer emissions.

Continental is prioritizing the use of renewable and recycled materials in its tire production. While the share of these materials averaged 26 percent in 2024, the tire manufacturer expects an increase of 2 to 3 percentage points by the end of this year. In just five years, by 2030, this figure is expected to rise to at least 40 percent. Among other materials, the focus is on rubber and resins from various more sustainable sources. Both materials are essential for the quality and performance characteristics of tires.

German Alliance for the Future of Tires (AZuR) reports thar each year, more than 500,000 metric tons of end-of-life tires are generated in Germany. Tires that can no longer be repaired, regrooved, or retreaded are ideally directed toward climate-friendly recovery pathways—preferably mechanical recycling, followed by chemical recycling where appropriate. A new film released by the Alliance for the Future of Tires (AZuR) clearly illustrates how tire pyrolysis plays a key role in avoiding waste, keeping valuable raw materials in circulation, and sustainably substituting fossil resources.

Global leading tire company Hankook Tire & Technology (Hankook Tire) has commenced the mass production of its tires utilizing three types of ISCC (International Sustainability & Carbon Certification) PLUS certified carbon black. The carbon black, derived from end-of-life tire pyrolysis oil, was developed through the Tire-to-Tire Circular Economy Model consortium.

Circtec has completed construction of Phase 1 of its end-of-life tyre pyrolysis recycling facility at Delfzijl, the Netherlands. The plant is now in operation and recycling fifty thousand tonnes of waste tyres per year into high-quality circular products. The plant was formally opened by King Willem-Alexander in a ceremony in which the King commenced operations by feeding waste tyres into the recycling process himself. The ceremony was also attended by the Netherlands Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Climate and Green Growth and the British Ambassador to The Netherlands.