Mexico’s Secretariat of Environment and Natural Resources (Semarnat) is promoting a circular economy model for the collection and recycling of end-of-life tyres in Morelos, with 13 municipalities already participating in the programme
Alicia Bárcena Ibarra, the Semarnat Secretary, recently visited the State Centre for Circular Economy for Tyre Transformation in Jiutepec, observing the industrial processes used to collect, process, and recycle waste tyres. The programme converts tyres into refuse-derived fuel (RDF), which is subsequently used in industrial processes.
Bárcena also visited Cementos Moctezuma’s Tepetzingo plant, where collected and processed tyres are used as RDF, allowing the waste tyres to be used as an alternative fuel and generating energy for industrial operations rather than being sent for disposal.
The initiative forms part of President Claudia Sheinbaum’s environmental policy, which has identified removing waste tyres from dumps, ravines and roads as a priority. Bárcena explained that the president has set the end of 2026 as a deadline to address this issue of illegally dumped tyres.
The programme highlights the importance of cooperation between federal and state authorities, municipalities and the private sector, with Morelos Governor Margarita González Saravia calling on residents to participate by bringing unwanted tyres from homes, tyre shops and other locations to designated collection points, where they will be taken free of charge and directed to Cementos Moctezuma for recovery as fuel.
José Luis Samaniego Leyva, Undersecretary for Sustainable Development and Circular Economy, said Mexico’s General Circular Economy Law provides for a coordinating body that will work with tyre producers and importers to establish a contribution reflecting the costs of transporting tyres to recycling facilities.
The initiative reflects Semarnat’s broader effort to move away from the traditional linear model of extracting, producing and disposing of materials towards a circular economy based on reuse, recycling and material recovery, with responsibility shared between government, industry and society.
Source: Gobierno de Mexico
