India introduced EPR for end-of-life tyres in the two years ago, involving both producers and recyclers and advancing industry circularity. The government has played a key role in this progress, aiming to increase value and further improve the sector
Tyre recycling has shifted from powder production to reclaiming, crumbing, pyrolysis, and recovered carbon black (rCB). Technological advances now enable sustainable fuel applications. Rahul Shringarpure, Director of Indo-Green Enviro Pvt. Ltd., stated at the Tyre Recycling Conclave in Jaipur, that R&D over the next five years will create new uses for tyre-derived materials and improve recovered carbon black quality for direct use in new tyres.
Panelists stressed the need to improve feedstock quality for wider use in the tyre sector and called for incentives for recyclers to upgrade technology.
Regulatory framework to control feedstock quality
Dr Rinkel Jindal, Head of Global Regulatory Compliance at Apollo Tyres, has identified certain gaps within the EPR policy. He notes that a regulatory perspective is essential to understanding these deficiencies. Dr Jindal emphasises that both producers and recyclers—key stakeholders in the policy—should prioritise the quality of input feedstock. The absence of control over the collection of end-of-life tyres prevents proper sorting at the input stage. Therefore, he recommends framing policies to enable regulators to play a critical role in overseeing input feedstock quality, thereby ensuring a higher standard of output.
Secondly, regulators should encourage the recycling sector to upgrade its technology. For instance, in India, most of the 97% recyclers use mechanical crumbing processes, while globally the trend is moving towards water jet crumbing. Water jet crumbing is superior because it preserves the mechanical bonds and ensures higher crumb quality, but it requires seven to eight times the capital investment for the same plant capacity. The crucial question remains: who will invest in this technology? Policymakers play a key role by offering incentives to support adoption and technological upgrades.
Currently, recyclers have no obligation regarding how they use funds collected from producers through the sale of EPR credits for R&D. The government should require producers to allocate a certain portion of these funds for R&D, which could be conducted by the recycler or through collaborations between recyclers, producers, and academic institutions.
He also called on Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) to contribute to advancements in recycling, especially within the tyre sector.
Companies Employ Reverse Logistics to Ensure Feedstock Quality
Input material quality is critical for output and can only be ensured if its traceability from origin to end-of-life is maintained. Regrip India Pvt Ltd has focused on tracking input materials throughout their lifecycle. The company recently secured INR 200 million in funding, underscoring the growth of India’s tyre recycling industry.
Explaining Regrip’s approach to maintaining uniform feedstock quality, founder Tushar Suhalka emphasised prioritising R&D to enhance feedstock through technology improvements so that tyre companies can increase its usage. Domestic availability of tyres is limited, so Regrip engineered a reverse logistics system. They integrated end-users—tyre shops, transporters, puncture shops—onto a single platform, building an extensive tyre collection network. Regrip now operates in 24 cities with 40 company-owned tyre collection centres.
Digitally mapping tyres, Regrip sorts them into reusable and non-reusable categories. Non-reusable tyres are further classified to maximise value for tyre companies. Filtration occurs onsite, where tyres are separated according to the value requirements of reclaimers and their intended applications, such as crumb or tyre-derived oil.
Describing high-value tyre-derived materials, Jayesh Patel, Managing Director of Lead Reclaim, clarified that value depends not just on price but also on market respect, consistent engineering, credible processing, and performance in real products. Treating scrap tyres as resources rather than waste transforms recycling into manufacturing and brings circularity to life.
Pyrolysis Industry Transitioning to Continuous Systems
Pyrolysis plays a substantial role in tyre recycling, utilising nearly 60% of end-of-life tyres. Two types of plants dominate India’s tyre recycling sector: batch and continuous. Regulations favour continuous systems, with the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) mandating that facilities handling over 60 tonnes per day must operate continuously, automated, and comply with environmental standards. While smaller batch plants still exist, continuous systems offer greater efficiency and are preferred for large-scale operations.
“The batch process has yet to reach the maturity level of continuous systems in India,” said Mahesh Ahuja, General Manager at Klean Oil Energy Pvt Ltd. He noted that although some international companies produce high-quality carbon black using batch processes, India’s approximately 1,200 batch pyrolysis plants have not achieved R&D milestones comparable to Europe, reaching only about 25% of European standards.
He concluded that recyclers are moving toward continuous systems to embrace better technology and achieve greater efficiency.
