Waste tyres are a rapidly growing environmental concern—fueling fires, polluting ecosystems, and overwhelming landfills without proper recycling solutions in place.

• With a rising demand for vehicles, there has been a corresponding increase in the use of tires, leading to a rise in waste tires.
• Scrap tyres fall under the category of hazardous waste due to their potential to cause fires and release toxic emissions into the air and water.
• The government introduced extended producer responsibility for waste tyres in 2022; however, data show that the tyre production industry has not yet begun to comply.

In December 2022, India surpassed Japan to become the world’s third-largest automotive market. The sector accounts for approximately 7% of India’s gross domestic product (GDP). As the vehicle market expands, there is a corresponding growth in the Indian tyre market.

Tyre production in India increased by 21% in 2022 and by a further 6% in 2023, reaching a total of 217.4 million units in a year. By weight, 2.5 million metric tonnes (MT) of tyres have been produced in India annually since 2019.

This growth story, however, has a flip side. “After accounting for wear and tear of 20%, approximately 2 million metric tons of tyres are discarded as scrap annually,” said Satish Goyal, president of the Tyre & Rubber Recyclers Association of India (TRRAI). “Add to this the 0.8 million metric tons of scrap tyres imported into India annually from countries such as the United Kingdom, Australia, and the UAE, where recycling tyres is not permitted, which brings the total tyre waste handled in India to 2.8 million metric tons,” he said.

In 2022, India’s Ministry of Environment, Forests, and Climate Change (MoEFCC) introduced Extended Producers’ Responsibility (EPR) for waste tyres, which means that the producer or importer is responsible for the safe disposal of end-of-life tyres. The producer or importers can buy their EPR certificates from recyclers, who are then responsible for converting waste tyres into environmentally safe products. “EPR is a boon for tyre recycling in India. Recyclers can now invest in environmentally safe technologies. However, unless tyre producers come forward to pay for it, it will not be easy,” said Goyal. Data from the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) show that currently, less than 1% of the recycling of tyres is paid for by tyre producers.

How do waste tyres impact the environment and public health?

Waste tyres constitute approximately 1% of the total municipal solid waste in India, according to a 2021 report by the Central Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs (MoHUA). However, tyres are non-biodegradable and occupy a significant amount of space in waste disposal areas. Water stagnation in recklessly discarded tyres makes them an ideal breeding ground for mosquitoes and rodents, leading to diseases such as malaria and dengue.

Given its potential to retain heat, fuel is derived from rubber tyres, and although banned, it remains a cost-effective but polluting fuel in brick kilns and jaggery-making units. Burning tyres emit carcinogenic pollutants such as aromatic hydrocarbons, dioxins, furans, etc.

Tyres also catch fire easily, which, once ignited, is challenging to put out. Tyres have been responsible for many historical fires. Among them, the largest one has been in Wales, which began in 1989 and lasted 15 years,according to a 2017 report, “Circulating Tyres in the Economy,” by the Chintan Environmental Research and Action group. 10 million stockpiled tyres caused it. In another case in May 2016, 9,000 people living near a “toxic cloud” from a burning tire dump near Madrid, Spain, were told to leave their homes. In India, there have been no instances of fire in stockpiled tyres, but toxic fumes from rubber burning contribute to the frequent garbage landfill fires. The ash and residue from the fire further pollute by leaching into the soil and groundwater.

India was discarding 275,000 tyres every day in 2021, according to the MoHUA report. “There is no tracking of these discarded tyres and monitoring of their disposal across India,” said the report. Recyclers, meanwhile, claim that all parts of a scrap tire are reused.

According to TRRAI’s Goyal, there are approximately 800 registered recyclers in India, which accounts for about 70-80% of the entire tyre recycling sector. Most plants are located in Uttar Pradesh and Haryana, with 250 units in Uttar Pradesh and 150 units in Haryana, respectively. Goyal’s association, TRRAI, has 400 members. Of the total 800 recyclers in India, 650 produce Tyre Pyrolysis Oil (TPO). Tyre and rubber recycling today is a Rs. 35 billion industry, set to grow ten times due to the “increasing size of the domestic automobile industry and the value-added in the recycling industry during the same period,” according to one estimate.

How are waste tyres recycled?

The materials recovered from waste tyres, as approved by the MoEFCC, include reclaimed rubber, crumb rubber, crumb rubber modified bitumen (CRMB), Recovered Carbon Black (RCB), and Tyre Pyrolysis Oil (TPO) and its char.

Besides these, old tyres can be reused by undergoing retreading and regrooving processes. Retreading means vulcanising (a chemical process) a new tread on tyres that have their casing in good condition. Regrooving is manually carving grooves on old tyres. Retreading is typically used for slow-moving and animal-powered vehicles but is considered unsafe for fast-moving cars. “Tractors used in paddy fields require new tyres every two years, creating a significant market for retreading in Punjab and Haryana,” said a tyre producer and recycler from Ludhiana. Regrooving tyres in heavy-load vehicles, such as lorries, trucks, and buses, means lower overhead costs for fleet operators, according to the Chintan report.

Reclaim and crumb rubber are used to make conveyor belts, doormats, floor tiles for gymnasiums, play and walking areas, bicycle pedals, shoe soles, pots, rubber sheets, hosepipes, and battery containers. CRMB is used as an additive to bitumen in making roads. Rubberised bitumen is less prone to temperature variations and rain than ordinary bitumen, and is more resistant to thermal cracking, fatigue cracking, rutting, moisture damage, and age hardening. As of 2017, over 125,000 km of road had been laid using CRMB. This is the most environmentally friendly method for disposing of waste tyres. Approximately 6-8 lakh metric tonnes of bitumen are imported into India annually. By adding crumb rubber to bitumen, we can reduce this by 12-14%,” the Chintan report stated.

Pyrolysis is the chemical decomposition of organic material at elevated temperatures in the absence of oxygen. The tyre pyrolysis process generates 40% oil, 33% carbon char, and 15-20% steel wire. The oil generated or TPO is used as an alternative to fuel furnaces. It is most commonly used in the production of hot mixes for road laying. India produces 1 million metric tons of TPO, said Goyal. But if the extraction of TPO is not done correctly, it releases smoke and soot. “The conditions in which labour works in these units are inhumane. These are closed units with no air ducts. The owners give them jaggery and alcohol to counter the effects of carbon on their lungs, but that doesn’t help for long,” said the Ludhiana tire producer and recycler, speaking on the condition of anonymity.

The carbon char generated through pyrolysis is used as a filler material for black polymer products, such as water tanks, and also in paints and dyes. “Because of its high calorific value, carbon char is still used for heating in brick and cement kilns, though it is not permitted,” said Goyal. “A product (char) that was previously considered waste and would be released into the atmosphere is now diligently collected, as it is also used to make RCB, a material used in new tyres,” he said.

At present, around 30% of a new tyre is composed of virgin carbon black, a petroleum product. However, RCB, which is extracted from carbon char through a series of processes, can replace this to some extent. “A new policy is being developed to utilize 5-10% RCB in new tyres, which will help reduce the volume of virgin carbon black used in new tyres,” said Goyal.

What does the law say?

As per the 2022 EPR notification, tyre producers, importers (including those importing scrap tyres), recyclers, and retreaders are supposed to register on the Central Pollution Control Board’s (CPCB) EPR portal. Producers and importers can fulfill their Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) obligation by purchasing EPR certificates online from recyclers through this portal. Based on the quantity of tyre recycled by them, the recyclers generate these certificates on the portal. Each recycling method carries weightage points, and recyclers are given credits accordingly. In 2022-23, more than 4 lakh credits were generated by recyclers, while more than 91,000 credits were generated in 2023-24. Non-compliance with the EPR would invite a refundable fine.

In 2022-23, when the notification came, producers were required to fulfill the EPR obligation of up to 35% of the tyres, about eight lakh credits produced by weight. For 2023-24, it was supposed to be 70% or 18 lakh credits. From the year 2024-25 onwards, it will be 100%. However, according to the portal, the producers purchased only about 5,000 credits, which is less than 1%.

“The tyre producers don’t want to pay for EPR as it is an additional cost for them, so they are alleging that TPO is an unstable and polluting industry. They want us to sell EPR credit at the rate of Rs 2/kg, but it is not sustainable for us to run a recycling company at less than Rs 5-6/kg,” said Goyal. All the 650 registered TPO units in India have the state pollution control board’s consent to operate. If they were polluting, they would not be given the consent, he added.

In November 2023, the CPCB designated TPO as an Orange category industry due to its potential for air pollution from combustion and fugitive emissions. The Orange category stands second, following the most polluting industry (Red), based on the Pollution Index (PI). In January this year, the CPCB released standard operating procedures for the industry and reiterated the restriction on importing waste tyres for TPO production.

The crumb rubber sector, because it is allowed, imports most of its raw material requirements. The TPO sector, which accounts for 80% of the formal recyclers in the country, utilizes only the tyre waste generated in India. Instead of wishing it away, it is crucial to improve the technology in the TPO sector. Otherwise, who will bear the burden of waste in India?” said Goyal.

I agree that, even two years ago, the TPO industry was not stable. When the technology began to arrive from China in 2010, numerous issues were encountered. However, over time, we have upgraded it to meet environmental standards. Now, we can claim that TPO is a zero-waste technology. Even the gas emitted is condensed back to generate fuel that runs the plant,” said Goyal.

Bharati Chaturvedi, director of Chintan, disagrees. “A good technology in the laboratory does not mean it functions well in real-time as well. It is like a scientifically designed landfill or a waste-to-energy plant, which is great in theory but not able to perform without creating pollution. If it is such a great idea, why do state pollution control boards keep shutting down TPO units now and then,” said Chaturvedi.

According to her, there needs to be better channelisation of waste tyres between producers and recyclers. Additionally, there is a need for more effective market mechanisms to promote the adoption of products made from recycled waste tyres. For instance, the government can make the use of CRMB mandatory in road construction, at least for all roads managed by the Public Works Department. The producers need to discuss pricing with the recyclers, as well as the costs of storage and transportation; otherwise, the informal sector is ready to take it up and treat it as they have been doing for all these years,” she said.

Waste Tyres Are a Global Crisis — But They’re Also a Circular Opportunity

Millions of tyres are discarded annually, resulting in pollution, fires, and long-term damage to the ecosystem. With the right technology, these same tyres can become valuable resources in a circular economy.

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✅ Advanced pyrolysis systems converting waste tyres into fuels and rCB
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