Tyre Recycling in the
European Union
Dr. Valerie L. Shulman
Secretary General, ETRA
17-19 February 2008
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ETRA : The European Tyre Recycling Association
• Founded in 1994, with 19 members in 5 EU States
• ETRA has ±250 members in 43 countries, including each EU State;
• The mission : to develop tyre recycling as an environmentally and
commercially sustainable European industry
• Objectives: to develop and advance policies that support the industry;
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to expand and develop markets;
to development and implement professional standards;
to prepare and promote guidelines for materials, products,
applications;
to provide communication links
• Membership is open to the public and private sectors
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Post-consumer tyres
~ 3,250,000 tonnes of post-consumer tyres are permanently
removed each year from cars and trucks in the 27 EU States and defined as waste
It is estimated that an additional ~60,000 to 70,000 tonnes of
post-consumer tyres are permanently removed each year from
agricultural and other off-road vehicles in the 27 EU States but not defined as waste
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Compared with other waste streams
Product
Paper
Plastics
Packaging
Glass
Aluminium
Automotive/construction
Packaging
Rubber
Tyres
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Consumption
Sub-set
±79,000,000
±37,000,000
±19,980,000
±15,000,000
±8,860,000
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±5,316,000
±1,594,800
±5,000,000
±3,000,000
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The raw materials
Rubber compounds - throughout
the tyre : treads, sidewalls, etc.
Plies and belts : layers of brass
coated steel with rubber
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Bead wire : Cords of high tensile
steel that give form to the tyre
Casing : Made of metal, rayon,
nylon. Polyester cords
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Composition by weight of tyres
Material
Rubber/elastomersa
Car/utility%
±48
Truck/lorry%
±45
Carbon black or silicab
Metal
±22
±15
±22
±25
Textile
Zinc oxide
±5
±1
±2
Sulphur
Additives
±1
±8
±1
±5
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A Truck tyres contain proportionately more natural rubber in comparison to synthetic rubber than do car tyres
b Different varieties of carbon black are used for different purposes and may appear in other categories of material
The rubber compounds, metals and textiles are recovered through material recycling
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Recycling makes sense
• It requires 121,000BTUs to produce 1 kg of new rubber materials
• It requires only 2,200BTUs to produce 1 kg of clean granulate or
powder.
Put another way, the Co2 equivalent for 1kg of rubber is :
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4,351 for Natural rubber
3,409 for SBR
0,097 for recycled rubber
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Considering energy use
The production of 1 tonne of rubber requires the following :
– Natural rubber requires the same amount of energy as driving
from Brussels to Singapore (about 10,560km)
– Synthetic rubber (SBR) requires the equivalent of driving from
Rome to Sidney Australia (15,000km)
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– Recycled rubber is a much shorter trip - it uses the equivalent of
a 400 km ride from Paris (France) to Geneva (Switzerland)
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Means of tyre valorisation




Re-use and or export
Retreading
Material recycling including :
 Civil engineering and construction applications
 Environmental rehabilitation projects
 Consumer and industrial products
Energy recovery for :
 Co-incineration
 Cement kilns
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Each form of valorisation requires a consistent flow of input
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The attainment level : 2005-6
In 2005-6, ±2 669 219 tonnes of post-consumer tyres were treated in an
environmentally sound manner within the 25 States of the EU.
± 222 975 tonnes : export (± 7%)
± 333 250 tonnes : retreading (± 10,5%)
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±1 012 920 tonnes : material recycling (± 31,8%)
±1 100 075 tonnes : energy recovery (±34,5%)
Together, ±83,8% of post-consumer tyres were diverted from landfills.
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Elements of the recycling process
• Collecting (manual)
• Sorting
• Pre-treating
• Debeading
• Cutting
• Processing (mechanical)
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• Shredding
• Granulating
» Sieving
» Packaging
» Storing
» Delivering
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The start of tyre recycling : Collecting
• Knowing where the tyres are
– At small individual sites :
• Garages, tyre shops, small retailers, vehicle sales
– At large communal depots
• Tyre distributors
• Fleet managers
• Municipal depots
• Vehicle dismantlers
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• Knowing how to move the tyres
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Basic collection information
Approx. Wt./ tyre
Tyres
p/tonne
170 kg
5.88
• Truck tyres
56 kg
17.86
• Bus tyres
54 kg
18.52
• Utility tyres
8 kg
125
• Passenger car tyres
7 kg
142.60
• Winter tyres
8kg
125
Category
• Off road/agricultural tyres
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EU Collection systems
Sweden
Finland
Producer responsibility
Free market system
Norway
Adaptation
Estonia
In transition
Latvia
Lithuania
Ireland
Poland
UK
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Germany
Czech Republic
France
Austria
Hungary
Romania
Italy
Bulgaria
Spain
Greece
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Malta
Cyprus
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Formula for tyre Collection
• To move 1 tonne of tyres costs approximately 2€ per km
• Passenger car tyres : 6 - 12 tonnes per delivery
15 tonnes in a walking floor truck
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• Truck tyres : approximately 14 - 15 tonnes per delivery
17 - 18 tonnes in a walking floor truck
• Off-road tyres : 15 tonnes per delivery
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Stacked tyres
Whole tyres are often stacked
in a basketweave to save
space - particularly when the
tyres will be retreaded
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Tyres for recycling are often
transported in bulk - as
whole, or as tyre cuts
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The next steps
1. Sorting : Manual process
According to category : truck, passenger car, other
Road-worthy : undamaged with minimum 1.66mm tread
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Retreadable : repairable casing in good condition
Non-retreadable : raw material for recycling
Many of these tyres are exported to other countries that have
less restrictive road-use standards
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Preparation for recycling
2. Pre-treatment : Manual processes
Removal of debris
Rinsing - remove dirt, etc.
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Cutting in halves/quarters
Debeading
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Not all tyres are ready for treatment
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Truck tyre debeading
• Truck tyres are debeaded
• The steel is removed
• A 60 second spurt at 150
kW/h/t is used
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• Clean tyre bead steel can
substitute virgin material dependent upon use
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Tyre processing
• Shredding
• Chipping
• Granulating
• Fine granulating
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• Powders
• Material upgrading
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Environmental impacts : per tonne
Material
Debeading
Feedstock
Truck tyres
Energy use
150 kWh/t
60 sec spurt
Shred, chips
Dependent upon use : Whole
and/or cut car, utility, truck
and other tyres
35-50 kWh/t
+0,2 mg/m dust
+95 dB (A) noise
SOx 0 NOx 0
Water - trace
Size reduction
Granulate &
powder
Dependent upon product:
whole, cuts, shred, chips,
treads, sidewalls, technical
rubber
120 kWh/t
0,2 mg/m dust G; 0,4 mg/m dust P
+85 dB (A) noise (newer systems encased)
+90 dB (A) noise (encased) some older, dual
process systems
Sox0 NOx 0
Water – b elow allowable levels
+0,2 kg/h dust
+85 dB noise (encased system)
Sox 0 NOx 0
Water – b elow allowable levels
Fine powder
<600 µm
Dependent upon product:
granulate as produced
above
110-150 KW/t
1.3 tN2/t
granulate
Devulcanisation
(non-chemical)
Dependent upon product:
Shredded/granulated tyres,
As produced above
150 – 200 kWh/t
Pyrolysis
Dependent upon product :
As above
370 kWh/t
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Emission limits/unit of operation
3
+0,4 mg/m dust
+95 dB (A) noise
3
3
3
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3
+0,2 mg/m dust
+90 dB noise
SOx 0 NOx 0
Water – b elow allowable levels
Local legal limits for air emissions 30– 45 dB
Water – b elow allowable levels
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Shred and chips
• Shredders can be mobile or
fixed
 Shred can vary in size from
±75mm to 300mm in any
dimension.
 Smaller shred, of <±100mm, can
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be used loose or compacted, in
applications with or without
binders
 Chips, from ±15 - ±75mm, can
be used in applications with or
without binders
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Granulation plant in operation
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Cost-use-triangle
The Post-consumer tyre usage hierarchy
Whole
Cut
Shred and chips
Capital investment
Principal Consumers
Examples of use
100% public sector
artificial reefs, erosion control
noise barriers, stabilisation
±80% public sector
±20% private sector
lightweight fill for construction,
roads, insulation, landfill construction
> 1,000,000€
±80% private sector
±20% public sector
consumer/industrial applications,
products, sports surfaces, some public
civil engineering applications
<10,000,000€
±95% private sector
±5% public sector
consumer/industrial products,
coatings, some road construction
<
100,000€
< 1,000,000€
Granulate and powders
Multi-treatment materials
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Preliminary specifications of many of these applications and products are provided in the CEN Wo rkshop Agreement on Post-consumer tyres.
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The range of materials : outputs




Since 1995, the range of post-consumer tyre materials produced and used
has expanded - principally at the extremes
Larger materials, i.e., whole treated and untreated tyres, bales, shred, chips
are increasingly selected by civil engineers
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Smaller materials, i.e., granulate, powders, fine powders and specialised
products (reclaim, devulcanisates, thermoplastic elastomers, etc.) are being
selected by manufacturers of consumer and technical products
Recycling residues are increasingly used for specific innovative applications
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Post-consumer tyre materials
The changing balance of material production and use
Granulate
54%
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Powders
10%
Whole tyres
12%
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Shred/chips
15%
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Misc.
2%
Specialty
7%
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Whole tyres
 Whole tyres can be recycled
without physical or chemical
transformation
 Principal methods of treatment
include cutting into halves or
quarters,
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 untreated or, treated by
removing the beads or
sidewalls, or by compression
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Characteristics of whole tyres
Characteristics
• Lightweight,
• Low compacted density,
• High void ratio,
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• Good compressibility,
• Water permeability,
• Thermal insulation
• Non-biodegradable
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Examples of whole tyre uses
Slope stabilisation
Construction bale
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Erosion control
Coastal and fluvial protection
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Shred and Chips
 Shred and chips are the result of
mechanical processes by which tyres
are fragmented into irregular pieces
 Shred can vary in size from ±75mm to
300mm in any dimension.
 Smaller shred, of <±100mm, can be
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used loose or compacted, in
applications with or without binders
 Chips, from ±15 - ±75mm, can be used
in applications with or without binders
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Characteristics of shred and chips
Characteristics
• Lightweight,
• Low compacted density,
• High void ratio,
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• Good compressibility,
• Water permeability 10-1 to
10-3 m/s
• Thermal insulation
• Low earth pressure
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Examples of shred and chips
Compacted shred
Landfill cell
(geotextile)
Drainage systems
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Loose shred
Loose unbound chips :
Compacted unbound chips
Bound chips
Building insulation
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Granulate
 Granulate is the result of
processing rubber to reduce it in
size into finely dispersed particles
from ±1mm to ±10mm
 There are two principal methods of
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production : ambient and cryogenic
 Ambient size reduction is the most
common, particularly for larger
truck tyres.
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Characteristics of granulate
Characteristics
Variations are based upon
the treatment technology
Ambient : irregular shape;
some thermal degradation
due to treatment; reduced
cross-linking
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Cryogenic : regular shape
and particle size; smooth,
glossy surface; no surface
decomposition or thermal
stress
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Examples of granulate uses
Artificial turf
Road
Roadfurniture
furniture
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Running tracks
Artificial turf
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Insulation
Indoor or outdoor
tiles/pavers
Children’s play grounds
Sports arenas
Sports stadia
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Powders and fine powders
 Fine
granulate is the result of
ambient or cryogenic processing to obtain finely dispersed
particles of less than ±2mm.
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 Powders and fine powders
are
the result of processing and
post-treating the material to
obtain finely dispersed particles
of ±500µm - <1.mm
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Characteristics of powders
Characteristics
Powders are processed to
modify one or more characteristic to restore some
properties of virgin rubber.
Powders include reclaim,
surface modified or reactivated material, elastomeric alloys, among others.
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They are most often used as
ingredients in compounds
that are mixed or blended with
virgin material
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We’ll continue to work on it
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Thank you for your attention
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The 15th Annual European Conference
on tyre recycling
Towards a Recycling society :
the challenge
2 - 5 April 2008
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The Crowne Plaza Europa, Brussels
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