Importance of tyres' re-use and recycling

End-of-life tyre (ELT) recycling is a major enabler of circularity and climate mitigation of the tyre industry.

End of Life vehicle (ELV) production in Europe has increased from 6.0 million in 2015 to 6.7 million in 2017¹, leading to an increased generation of end-of-life tyres. In 2017, over 3 million tons of ELT were generated in EU-28, 43% of which were collected and treated for granulate recovery².

Natural rubber is a Critical Raw Material in Europe³. As the tyre industry accounts for the largest consumption of rubber in the world⁴, recycling of ELT represents the best option for material recovery. Compared to using virgin materials, ELT recycling contributes to decrease greenhouse gas emissions and energy consumption by 88% and 85% respectively⁵.

1. Eurostat (2020). End-of-life vehicles - reuse, recycling and recovery, totals. Retrieved from: http://appsso.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/nui/show.do?dataset=env_waselvt&lang=en; 2. ETRMA (2019). Europe - 92% of all End of Life Tyres collected and treated in 2017. Press Release. Retrieved from: https://www.etrma.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/20191119-Europe-92-of-all-End-of-Life-Tyres-collected-and-treated-in-2017.pdf; 3. The list of Critical Raw Materials contains raw materials which reach or exceed thresholds for both economic importance and supply risk to the EU.  In 2017 The European Commission included Natural rubber in the CRM list; 4. Genan (2020). Tyres. Retrieved from: https://www.genan.eu/applications/tyres/; 5. Aliapur (2010). Analyse du cycle de vie pour 9 voies de valorisation des pneus usages non reutilisables. R&D Aliapur. Retrieved from https://www.aliapur.fr/uploads/pdfs/acv-document-de-reference.pdf.

Benefits

EuRIC Mechanical Tyre Recycling (MTR) Branch aims to promote the recycling of ELT across Europe, while representing and protecting the collective interests of the European mechanical ELT recycling industry. This industry consists of companies and organizations who recycle ELT using mechanical processes and market recycled rubber, steel and textiles obtained from ELT. The MTR Branch was founded in 2020, when tyres recycling becomes a priority within the European Circular Economy Strategy.

EuRIC MTR Members are companies and national recycling federations active throughout Europe in the field of collecting, recycling and trading ELT and its subsequent recycling products. Furthermore, EuRIC MTR Branch is a member of the Technical Committees on ‘Surfaces for Sport Areas’ (CEN/TC 217) and ‘Materials obtained from ELT’ (CEN/TC 366) working closely with the whole tyres value chain to develop an effective work.

The primary focus of EuRIC MTR will be:

• Monitoring the implementation of the EU’s strategy concerning tyres;
• Promoting extended producer responsibility (EPR) for new tyres;
• Improving the interface between EU’s waste and chemical laws to provide mechanical tyre recyclers with the predictability needed to develop their activities;
• Supporting eco-design and recycling requirements to foster recyclability;
• Encouraging stronger end markets for ELT recycled products;
• Supporting a controlled shipment of ELT to abroad facilities operating under EU equivalent standards;
• Encourage recycled content targets for tyres and other ELT recycled products to pull the demand for quality recycled rubber.

Objectives

EuRIC MTR Branch’s main objectives are:

• To monitor and analyse at EU level all legal, environmental, economic and technical issues relating to the collection, recycling, recovery, and shipment of ELT and its recyclates.
• To ensure a proper representation of the European mechanical tyre recycling sector to the European institutions and liaise with relevant associations and other stakeholders inside and outside the EU that are active in the tyre value chain.
• To provide expert input on EU policy and regulatory initiatives that could have an impact on the collection, recycling, recovery, and shipment of ELT and its recyclates.
• To promote mechanical tyre recycling and the use of its end-products in various applications

EuRIC MTR Branch Members