A paper published in Sustainable Materials (SusMat) estimates that the automotive industry accounts for around 40% of global pollution, with tire production and use responsible for 20% to 30% of that total. In Europe, regulations such as the Ecodesign for Sustainable Products Regulation (ESPR) and the End-of-Life Vehicles Regulation (ELVR) have come into force as the region works toward its circular economy and carbon neutrality goals. These rules assess a product across its whole life, from design and production through use and disposal, and they raise the bar for recycled content. Tire manufacturers now have to cut raw material consumption and increase the share of natural and recycled resources they use. That is why continuous pyrolysis is drawing so much attention within the tire recycling system.

In August, Continental unveiled a concept tire in which around 43% of the raw materials come from recycled sources. It also earned the top EU tire label rating for rolling resistance. The 43% includes recovered carbon black (rCB) from scrap tires processed by rubber pyrolysis, along with recovered steel, reclaimed rubber from end-of-life tires and polyester fiber made from recycled PET bottles. The tire also contains about 13% renewable raw materials and 25% mass-balanced certified materials. Continental has said on its website that it has used rCB in new solid rubber tires since 2023, which shows recycled materials can be relied on in volume production. Pirelli led a tire-to-tire project this year: scrap tires collected in Germany go through pyrolysis to produce recovered carbon black and pyrolysis oil (TPO). The rCB is purified and shipped back to Pirelli’s European plants to replace part of the virgin carbon black. The TPO goes to BASF and becomes part of its ISCC PLUS certified Ccycled® portfolio. Those certified materials are turned into synthetic rubber and end up in new Pirelli tires.

These projects show that the commercial route for pyrolysis products is now clear. Michelin, Bridgestone and other major tire makers have all set targets of around 40% recycled or sustainable materials by 2030. As the market for tire recycling systems opens up, buyers are asking harder questions about consistency and traceability. That pushes up the bar for tire pyrolysis equipment. Smaller operators running older technology will fall away, and the industry will consolidate. Equipment that runs continuously, stays within environmental limits and delivers consistent output is becoming the baseline.

Niutech has worked on pyrolysis technology for nearly 40 years. In scrap tire recovery, its equipment has helped customers build ten-thousand-ton continuous pyrolysis system projects in dozens of countries and regions, including Germany, the UK, South Korea, Brazil and Denmark. In China, its subsidiary’s Zouping project in Shandong Province started production in 2013 and has run for more than 10 years without a break. It is listed by China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) as an approved pyrolysis demonstration project, holds ISCC certification, and has won more than ten awards, including “China Tire Comprehensive Utilization Demonstration Project” and “National Key Environmental Protection Practical Technology Demonstration Project”. Carbon black from the plant is activated and upgraded, then returns to new tire production. The loop runs from tire to tire. A second phase adding 100,000 tonnes per year is under construction; once complete, the site’s total capacity will reach 160,000 tonnes per year. That operating record is the part customers can verify for themselves.

Niutech’s industrial continuous tire pyrolysis equipment, paired with its carbon black upgrading solution, lowers disposal costs and improves product quality. It is a waste to energy solution that also keeps material in the loop. Pyrolysis oil can serve as industrial fuel, non-condensable gas is fed back to run the plant, and the recovered carbon black goes into new tires. Output quality is consistent enough for downstream processing. Customers can visit a plant that is already running and check the numbers for themselves.