The German AZuR (Allianz Zukunft Reifen – “German Tyre Future”) – an organization engaging in the design of end-of-life tire management practices – has initiated a study on end-of-life tires in the country.

From retreading to tire pyrolysis, the research by AZuR will examine at different components of end-of-life tire value chain, including tire collection and recycling. The goal is to discover the actual facts pertaining to the reality of waste tire management.

In this regard, the study will evaluate the advantages of a variety of recycled rubber applications, as well as eventual destinations of end-of-life tires and, ultimately, the recyclability of products made from recycled tires.

This, Azur says, will in some ways, re-invent the wheel that SDAB in Sweden created a few years ago. AZuR, in constrast, is considering a free-market system, which may provide a more accurate picture of not only what is going on in Germany, but also what is going on with end-of-life tire imports from neighboring countries. It partially answers the concerns it is raising, such as whether pyrolysis is a more efficient choice than rubber matting, in its full media release.

AZuR’s research begins with an examination of rubberized asphalt. This section of the research will examine the costs and advantages, as well as how legislators who make road decisions can be better informed. Remarkably, the study’s final section will look at tire traceability in Germany and Europe, and it will take into account some EPR agencies’ claims of recovering more than 100% of tire arisings. In such cases, AZuR suspects double counting takes place. The study’s goal is to figure out exactly what the situation is in Germany. Any future company plan is overly vague without precise facts, AZuR pinpoints.