Tyre Wire Recycling

At IFAT 2026, Dutch technology company INMagnetics showed a magnetic length separator designed to sort steel wire recovered from end-of-life tyres, so the metal can move beyond scrap into higher-value reuse.

Sorting Steel for Higher-Value Reuse

The steel embedded in end-of-life tyres is one of the most overlooked secondary raw materials in the circular economy. Tyre wire recycling has long centred on reclaiming the rubber, oil and carbon, while the ferrous fraction is often baled and sold into low-value scrap markets. INMagnetics, founded by Joep Spithoven in 2019, is working to change that with a line of magnetic separation solutions built to lift the quality of recovered ferrous metal.

How Magnetic Length Separation Works

The company’s latest development, the Magnetic Length Separator (MLS), applies controlled magnetic fields to split ferrous material according to length rather than weight or density. By grading steel wire into consistent length fractions, the separator gives recyclers a cleaner, more uniform metal stream that can be sold into higher-value applications instead of being downgraded to bulk scrap.

Tyre Wire as a Recovered Commodity

For tire pyrolysis and mechanical recycling operators, cleanly separated tyre wire is a genuine co-product, not a by-product. When steel is recovered free of rubber contamination, it commands stronger pricing from steel mills and foundries and reduces the residue that would otherwise go to landfill. Because tyre-derived steel cord carries a relatively high carbon content, a clean, well-graded fraction is easier for mills to blend and process, which widens the pool of buyers beyond the lowest-value scrap channel. A consistent ferrous stream also simplifies downstream logistics and quality control across a facility.

The Broader Role of Magnetic Separation

Magnetic separation is already a mainstay of metals recycling, used to pull ferrous material from mixed streams before further processing. Length-based grading extends that principle, giving operators finer control over the specification of the steel they produce. For a tyre recycling plant, the benefit is twofold: a cleaner metal output and a simpler path to meeting the tighter tolerances that higher-value buyers expect.

Recovering Steel Alongside Carbon and Oil

Advanced tyre processing recovers three primary products — recovered carbon black, pyrolysis oil and steel. Klean Industries’ tyre pyrolysis approach is built around this integrated recovery model, turning whole end-of-life tyres into saleable commodities while extracting maximum value from the wire fraction. Magnetic length separation sits naturally alongside this kind of process, improving the quality of the steel that emerges at the end of the line, and a feasibility study can show whether a separation upgrade earns its place on a given site.

Learn More:

• Tire Pyrolysis Projects
• Recovered Carbon Black Projects
• Pyrolysis Oil Projects
• Feasibility Studies for Tyre Recycling

Turn Tyre Wire Into a Higher-Value Commodity

Clean steel recovery strengthens the economics of every tyre recycling facility, turning the wire fraction into a saleable product rather than a disposal cost. Klean Industries helps operators plan and build integrated recovery systems that reclaim steel, carbon and oil together.

Ready to recover more value from end-of-life tyres?

Contact Klean Industries about tyre wire and steel recovery » GO.