Tyre Waste Recycling

Italy’s extended producer responsibility scheme for end-of-life tyres reached a milestone in 2025, with material recycling overtaking energy recovery as the country’s primary route for managing tyre waste.

According to the latest sustainability report from Ecopneus, the country’s lead producer responsibility organisation, material recycling overtook energy recovery as the primary route for tyre waste in Italy. In 2025, Ecopneus collected 199,408 tonnes of end-of-life tyres, roughly 124% of the statutory legal target and about 23.57% above what was required. The volume was gathered through approximately 52,000 collection operations, responding to requests from more than 20,300 generation points across every Italian province. The report puts the economic value of the system at around €70 million in savings.

Material Recovery Takes the Lead

For the first time, material recovery overtook energy recovery as the dominant route for end-of-life tyres in Italy. That distinction matters: energy recovery typically means burning tyre-derived material for fuel, while material recovery keeps the rubber in circulation as crumb rubber, reclaim compounds, and higher-value products such as recovered carbon black and pyrolysis oil.

The Economics of Tyre Waste Recycling

The shift toward material recovery reflects a broader commercial logic. Recovered carbon black can substitute for virgin carbon black in new rubber compounds, while tyre pyrolysis breaks down end-of-life tyres into oil, gas, and recovered carbon black that hold real market value. The same thermal process also yields pyrolysis oil, steel wire, and syngas as distinct product streams, giving operators several revenue channels from a single feedstock. Energy recovery, by contrast, releases much of that embedded value as heat. When a national system tilts toward material recovery, it signals that the economics of keeping tyre material in use are winning out.

What This Means for the Sector

Italy’s result is a useful benchmark for other markets weighing how to structure their own tyre waste recycling programmes. Across the European Union, extended producer responsibility schemes for end-of-life tyres have pushed collection rates well above regulatory minimums, and those same frameworks increasingly steer recovered material toward higher-value outlets rather than cement-kiln co-incineration. Operators and project developers looking to capture the same value can start with a feasibility study that evaluates feedstock supply, technology choice, and offtake markets before committing capital.

Learn More:

• Tyre Pyrolysis Projects
• Recovered Carbon Black Projects
• Pyrolysis Oil Projects
• Feasibility Studies
• What Is Tyre Pyrolysis?

Ready to Turn Tyre Waste Into Value?

Material recovery is reshaping how Europe handles end-of-life tyres, and the economic case keeps strengthening. Whether you are evaluating a tyre pyrolysis plant or a recovered carbon black line, the right engineering and market planning determine the outcome.

Considering a tyre waste recycling project?

Contact Klean Industries about tyre waste recycling » GO.