News: Tire Recycling & Pyrolysis

End-of-life tires (ELT) are a valuable resource for the circular economy. Of course, natural rubber is important, but it only makes up roughly a fifth of a passenger vehicle's tire. Synthetic polymers, steel, and textiles all play a role in the process.

The Indian government released a draft document in January 2022 that includes recycling rates for the years 2022-23. It affects businesses that engaged in “any activity of production/manufacturing of new tires, import of new/waste tires and recycling of waste tires”.

Goodyear has created a 70% sustainable-material content version of its Assurance all-season tire. The company is making strides toward its aim of developing a tire that is 100 percent sustainable by 2030.

According to official estimates, tire fly-tipping is on the rise in England and Wales. Kwik Fit's communications director, Roger Griggs, said: "There is absolutely no excuse for an end-of-life tire to be fly tipped. Tire dealers must ensure that used tires are dealt with by a registered waste company and those companies have a duty to process them responsibly.

According to Bandvulc’s latest information, their newly introduced zero-to-landfill policy ensures that no production waste goes to landfill and, as a result, 100% of the company’s waste is recycled. Even rubber dust buffed off during the preparation process is recycled back into new tires.

Over 2 million used tires will be taken from the Riverton City disposal site in St Andrew, Jamaica, as part of a 10-year project that will eventually be expanded to other refuse disposal sites on the island.

SIGNUS – a Spanish end-of-life tire management authority – managed 200,286 tons of end-of-life tires in 2021, which had previously been gathered in the 25,820 generation points spread around Spain.

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.

Schwalbe has started a pilot project to create an innovative bicycle tire recycling technology in conjunction with Pyrum Innovations AG and the Technische Hochschule Köln - University of Applied Sciences.