Since we founded Retreading Business and Tyre & Rubber Recycling, we have interviewed hundreds of personnel at the forefront of sustainability across the tyre ecosystem . A recurring theme in these conversations is the need for government and regulatory support to bolster industries that should be at the heart of the European Union’s Circular Economy Plan. A key figure in this movement is Salvador Perez Lucena who is the Global Chief Sales Officer, Industrial Division, Grupo Soledad and President of the Spanish Association of Recycled Tyres (AER).
Having attended the AER retreading conference last year , I listened as Salvador made the case for government intervention to protect Spain’s domestic retreading industry and provide a much-needed shot of adrenaline to impulse a sector that has been decimated over the last 25 years across Europe. In this column he strikes a similarly urgent tone. He argues that while Spain was once a global reference point for end-of-life tyre management, it is now stalling due to a web of bureaucracy and inertia. Meanwhile other nations enact mandatory recycled-content laws and green public procurement policies. Lucena pulls no punches and leaves us with no doubt. Green goals must be delivered through action rather than speeches and hollow, superficial social media posts.
Moving from Speeches to Action by Salvador Perez
Spain has a dangerous habit: turning competitive advantages into paperwork, and industrial solutions into bureaucracy. Few sectors show this more clearly than tyres. For years, we have talked about circular economy, decarbonisation, material recovery and green public procurement. For years, we have explained that extending the life of a tyre and reusing its materials is not only environmentally sound, but also industrially, economically and strategically smart. And yet, we still fail to take the step that really matters.
The greatest paradox is that Spain is not starting from scratch. On the contrary, it has long been regarded as a successful reference point in end-of-life tyre management. Academic work on the Spanish system described it as a benchmark beyond Spain itself, and that same model is still being presented abroad as a replicable framework for countries reviewing or building their own systems. Spain does have a model. It has experience. It has companies. It has technology. It has operators who understand the full value chain, from collection to retreading, recycling and material recovery. What is missing is not capability. What is missing is the political will to turn that accumulated experience into a simpler, more decisive and more market-oriented public policy.
The clearest proof that progress is possible can even be found within Spain itself. The Community of Madrid has approved legislation requiring a minimum content of recycled rubber from end-of-life tyres in asphalt mixtures used on its road network. This is not a generic recommendation or a declaration of good intentions. It is a concrete obligation. And that shows that the problem is not technical. The problem is political and administrative.
While Spain remains stuck in a “we will study it further” mindset, other countries are moving ahead. France has understood that circular economy is not driven by speeches alone, but by decisions that create demand. Its public procurement rules require the State, local authorities and their operators to buy retreaded tyres, unless a first tender proves unsuccessful. That is not symbolic language. It is a market signal. It uses public purchasing power to support the tyre life cycle instead of merely discussing it.
Beyond Europe, the contrast is even more uncomfortable. Japan includes retreaded tyres in its green purchasing policy for public bodies. In the United States, the EPA’s procurement guidelines explicitly cover retread tyres and retreading services for public agencies. California, for its part, backs tyre-derived paving and industrial applications through grant programs that require significant recycled tyre content. Panama has moved even faster in regulatory terms: in February 2026, its National Assembly approved the mandatory use of products derived from end-of-life tyres and recycled rubber in asphalt mixtures for the construction, rehabilitation and maintenance of the national road network. In other words, countries with far less historical experience than Spain are moving faster when it comes to turning circularity into concrete obligations and market demand.
This comparison should give us pause. Because the problem is not limited to tyres. The same bureaucratic inertia can also be seen in other waste streams, from plastics to textiles, where companies are increasingly dealing with new extended producer responsibility regimes, registers, reporting obligations and regulatory developments. Too often, the transition to a more circular economy advances with more administrative burden than real market momentum.
It is also important to point out what should not be done. Portugal is currently sending the wrong signal to the tyre life-cycle sector. Valorpneu’s 2026 eco-fee framework now includes a specific table for tyres retreaded nationally. Even when presented as a differentiated regime, the message is still problematic: a product that extends service life, reduces waste and saves raw materials is being burdened rather than clearly encouraged. From a circular economy perspective, that is a step in the wrong direction.
That is the real underlying problem. In Spain, we talk a great deal about circular economy, but we still legislate and procure as if it were a footnote. We keep confusing caution with paralysis. We continue to ask for more reports, more procedures and more interpretative layers on issues that other countries are already addressing through clear decisions. Meanwhile, others move forward.
The tyre circular economy needs exactly the opposite: simple rules, clear targets and public procurement aligned with what truly matters. It needs to reward retreading, not penalise it. It needs to promote the use of recycled materials wherever the technical basis already exists. And it needs to place green public procurement where it belongs: as a genuine lever for industrial transformation, not merely as a statement of intent.
Spain should be leading this debate. It has the legitimacy to do so and the capacity to deliver. In fact, for years it has been one of the models others have looked at when building their own systems. That is precisely why it is so frustrating that, despite having the experience, the structure and the knowledge, we are still arriving late to decisions that should no longer be up for discussion.
