What do we see?
The collection rate of tyres has fluctuated around 100% for several years. The lowest amount was measured in 2011 (88%) and the highest in 2020 (101%). Although there was an increase in reuse between 2013 and 2015, by 2022 this has fallen again to 3%. This decline seems to correspond to an increase in recycling. Currently, most of the tyres collected (between 70 % and 93 %) are recycled into rubber granulate. The highest value was reached in 2022 . Between 2010 and 2012, there was an increase in retreading of the number of tyres collected to 15% but in 2022 that figure dropped back to 3%. We do see a decrease in the proportion of collected tyres being incinerated in the 2010-2022 period. In 2022 only 0.2% of all collected tyres were incinerated.
What’s the aim?
To preserve the value of materials for as long as possible, we should aim to maximise the valorisation of end-of-life tyres . The aim is to keep tyres and their materials in the cycle for as long as possible and give priority to the higher CE strategies, namely reuse and retreading.
The different strategies for the valorisation of end-of-life tyres are:
- Reuse: this is the most valuable option, both economically and in terms of materials use. However, the potential of this strategy depends on the quality of the tyres.
- Retreading: this strategy is applied only to truck tyres and involves maintaining the tyres for longer use.
- Recycling: this involves processing the tyres into granulate, which is then used for small wheels, tiles and carpets. A small proportion is also used as reducers for steel production.
- Energetic valorisation: here the tyres are used in the cement industry or (a small part) in pyrolysis plants for energy production.
At the moment, recycling mainly implies downcycling materials. To understand the value of these solutions for a circular economy, we should therefore analyse what has been replaced and what the broader impact of those replacements is.
What does this indicator measure?
The data include the number of tyres collected in Belgium and their percentage distribution among the different treatment processes. The quantity of tyres includes all types of tyres: from cars, trucks and agricultural and industrial machinery. The data comes from Recytyre via OVAM. Recytyre is a management body responsible for the collection and processing of old tyres and provides information on the performance of these processes. The number of tyres collected is only available for the whole of Belgium, but we assume that the situation in Flanders is similar.
