End-of-Life Tire Steel Finds New Life in Low-Carbon Concrete Reinforcement
Steel Fiber Recycling
Steel recovered from end-of-life tire cords is now being turned into fiber for concrete reinforcement at industrial scale, a circular route that sidesteps carbon-heavy reprocessing.
A Circular Breakthrough for Tire Steel
The new steel fiber product is produced from high-grade steel recovered from end-of-life tire cords. Because the process preserves the steel’s inherent tensile strength and avoids energy-intensive remelting, the finished fiber carries a reported Global Warming Potential of just 0.0436 kg CO₂eq per kg — a near-zero carbon footprint.
Reinforcement With a Lighter Footprint
The approach builds on an established fiber-reinforcement brand whose earlier products already enable up to 20% less concrete and 50% less steel compared with traditional reinforcement. The recycled-steel variant adds circularity on top of those material savings, supporting compliance with sustainability frameworks and helping owners meet ESG and Scope 3 goals.
Applications Across the Built Environment
The fibers are aimed at industrial flooring, precast elements, sprayed concrete and ultra-high-performance concrete, among other uses. Their low contamination levels and high tensile strength position them for demanding structural work where reliable, consistent reinforcement is required.
Closing a Long-Standing Tire Industry Gap
Tire circularity has historically centred on rubber, but the steel cord that gives modern tires their strength represents a significant secondary material stream. Recovering that steel for durable construction products adds a higher-value outlet to the end-of-life tire value chain and reduces reliance on virgin steel.
Learn More:
Recover Steel, Carbon Black and Oil From Tires
Every tire contains rubber, steel and carbon black that can be recovered as separate saleable streams.
Klean Industries’ pyrolysis systems separate scrap tires into recovered carbon black, oil and steel for downstream reuse.
Want a plant that recovers every tire fraction?
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