Tyre recycling companies in Europe are
running out of tyres. This development
remains something of a mystery because,
after all, EU citizens are producing more
than enough post-consumer tyres, with
new statistics suggesting the market
could be substantially larger than
previously thought. The case of the ‘missing’
arisings dominated this year’s European
Conference on Tyre Recycling, hosted by the
European Tyre Recycling Association.
One of the most crucial elements in creating a viable collection and valori-
sation system for waste materials is an accu-
rate quantification of the waste streams them-
selves. But when it comes to post-consumer
tyres in Europe, the figures on which recycling
strategies, programmes and business plans are
based represent a huge conundrum.
‘There are dramatic inconsistencies,’ com-
plained Peter Taylor of the Imported Tyre Man-
ufacturer’s Association (ITMA) at the Europe-
an Tyre Recycling Association’s 22nd Annual
European Tyre Recycling Conference. He is not
alone in his view. For a long time now, leading
independent analysts in the tyre sector have
suggested officially-accepted figures are less
than accurate, and that the figures for end-of-
life tyres (ELTs) have been underdeclared.
At the conference, which was held in Brussels
towards the end of March, the European Tyre
Recycling Association (ETRA) presented a new
set of statistics that seems to prove the analysts’
point. The association’s own studies have
thrown up a very different figure for tyre aris-
ings throughout Europe: taking into account
T Y R E S By Mareike Kuhn
The enigma that is
Europe’s tyre market…
40 May 2015
RI 4-Tyre recycling.indd 40 30-04-15 14:41
