Waste Tyre Crisis

South Africa is generating more than 70,000 waste tyres every day while recycling fewer than three in ten, leaving an escalating stockpile to build up across its urban fringe.

An Escalating and Overlooked Problem

In a recent opinion piece, Stacey Jansen of the Recycling and Economic Development Initiative of South Africa (REDISA) argues that the country is facing an escalating and largely ignored waste tyre crisis. The scale of the problem demands that end-of-life tyres be treated as a recoverable resource rather than a disposal burden.

The Scale of the Challenge

South Africa generates more than 70,000 waste tyres a day, yet recycles less than 30% of them. The unrecycled majority accumulates on the urban fringe and around informal settlements, creating stockpiles that carry real environmental and public-health burdens. Tire pyrolysis offers a proven route for converting this stream into valuable outputs.

From Waste Stream to Recoverable Value

Thermal processing recovers reusable materials from scrap tyres, including recovered carbon black and pyrolysis oil, turning a growing problem into a feedstock for industry. For organisations weighing how to scale such capacity, a feasibility study provides a structured starting point.

Learn More:

• What is tire pyrolysis?
• Tire pyrolysis projects
• Recovered carbon black
• Pyrolysis oil
• Feasibility studies

Turn South Africa’s Waste Tyre Crisis into a Resource

South Africa’s waste tyre crisis is also an untapped feedstock opportunity. With the right recovery infrastructure, millions of discarded tyres can become recovered carbon black, pyrolysis oil, and energy instead of accumulating stockpiles.

Klean Industries supports tyre recycling and recovery projects from the first feasibility assessment through to full plant development.

Ready to put waste tyres to work?

Contact Klean Industries about waste tyre recycling and recovery » GO.