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Europe – 91% of all End of Life Tyres collected and treated in 2018

08 September 2020

Brussels 08 September 2020 - New data consolidated by ETRMA, the European Tyre and Rubber Manufacturers’ Association, on the management of End of Life Tyres (ELTs) shows that 91% of ELTs were collected and treated for material recycling and energy recovery in 2018. This data covers 32 countries (EU28, Norway, Serbia, Switzerland and Turkey). While this is a small drop (1%) compared to the 2017 numbers, the total number of ELTs treated did increase by 4%, from 3.14 million tonnes ELTs in 2017 to 3.26 million tonnes in 2018.

The management of ELTs is split into material recovery and energy recovery:
About 2 million tonnes of tyres (61,75% of total ELTs treated) were treated through material recovery, where secondary materials from ELTs are used in construction, automotive and civil engineering applications.
The remaining 1,25 million tonnes (32,85% of total ELTs treated) were treated through energy recovery, mainly in cement kilns (75%), and used in urban heating and power plants (25%).

The European tyre industry is committed to an innovative and sustainable economy and continues to invest in increased treatment of ELTs, as long as practices respect environment and health.
The full 2018 ELT management data can be found in the table at this link.
More information on the European tyre industry’s contributions to a more circular economy can be found here.