Recyclers face significant challenges, including low market demand for recycled materials, a lack of incentives, and an increasingly hostile regulatory environment. A recent EU ban on polymeric infill for sports fields — one of the main end markets for ELT-derived rubber — has further threatened the viability of tyre recycling in Europe.
To address this, EuRIC has published a manifesto calling for urgent EU action aligned with the upcoming Circular Economy Act, and presenting five key policy recommendations to make Europe’s tyre recycling sector more competitive.
“Only half of Europe’s end-of-life tyres are recycled — the rest are burned or shipped abroad. Without urgent policy action to boost domestic demand for recycled rubber or restrict the exports of unprocessed tyres, and support recyclability by design, we risk wasting valuable resources and missing our climate goals. Tyre recycling must be a pillar of the EU’s circular economy,” said Julia Ettinger, EuRIC’s Secretary General.
